Phantoms, Powers and Prophecies
by FantomoDrako
Summary: Danny keeps dreaming of a strange castle while the ghosts across the world gossip of a 'halfa'. Does it mean anything?
1. Are Dreams Important?

**A/N: **Hey there! I decided to rewrite the first three chapters. They were short and badly written. I have improved my writing a lot since I first started, and I want to bring the first three chapters up to my new standard. Don't worry, I won't deviate from the main things. That being said, I hope you enjoy any changes I made.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own DP or HP. I can only imagine the weirdness and insanity that would happen if I did... I also do not own The Lion King.

'_Thoughts'_

"Speech"

* * *

**Chapter One: Are Dreams Important?**

It was a warm night with a pleasant breeze rustling the leaves of the trees scattered throughout Amity Park. Rock music, tinged with a gothic flavour, floated across the air from an open window. The music could easily be distinguished from amongst the various sounds of nocturnal wildlife. A girl's voice suddenly shattered the relative calm, in time with the song. The notes rang out nice and clear, carried by the breeze.

Amity Park's resident half-ghost was on patrol, keeping an eye out for any spectral activity. He didn't really need to be as vigilant with his eyes as his ghost sense would invariably alert him if a ghost was nearby. Intrigued by the music he floated closer to the source of the noise. A few seconds later, Danny Phantom was witness to a very rare sight: Samantha Manson was singing. Turning around, Sam found herself staring slack-jawed at her best friend. Mouth gaping stupidly, Danny collected his thoughts and gained enough sense to close his mouth.

Clearing his throat, he managed to croak out a nervous, "Hi Sam…"

Sam just stood there, her brain telling her to reply. Realising she had been caught and was unable to rewind time, Sam slowly met his apprehensive gaze. She opened her mouth but no sound came forth. Danny, who had been expecting Sam's wrath, was rather relieved at her reaction and decided to try another stab at conversation to cover up the awkward silence as the music, which had been coming from Sam's huge CD player, had stopped.

"You…uh…have a really good singing voice!" he said hesitantly, blurting the last part out in a rush while rubbing the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. Sam finally found her voice and narrowed her eyes.

"Were you _SPYING_ on me?!?" she yelled. Danny looked like someone had struck him in the face with a Holy Frying Pan of Righteous Feminine Wrath. Sam put her hands on her hips and simply stood there, glowering at her best friend. Flustered, he floated to the floor and took a few steps back.

"N-no, of course not! I was just out on patrol and heard singing. I had no idea it was you!" Sam looked disbelieving. "It's the truth!" he persisted. She sighed, giving in to the puppy-eyes he was shooting her way.

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't you _**dare**_ tell ANYONE or you'll regret it!" she hissed out threateningly.

Sam Manson was a force to be reckoned with; Danny knew this from personal experience and had no desire to be on the receiving end of Sam's combat boots or any other sort of weapon she had at her disposal. Danny gave her a goofy salute and mimed zipping his mouth shut.

"Good boy," she said, smiling despite herself. She glanced over at her bedside clock. 9:47 blinked innocently back in bright red digital numbers. "Danny, you better go!"

Danny looked a bit disappointed by this, but he had to be home before his curfew at ten o'clock. "See you at school tomorrow," he said over his shoulder, launching himself out of the window. He flew off in the direction of FentonWorks, enjoying the wind rushing past.

Out of all of the abilities he had gained from the Fenton Ghost Portal, flying was the one he secretly liked the most. There were no words to properly describe the feelings that flying induced. It made him feel free, like he had not a single care in the world and, if he did, the wind would whisk it away for him.

'_Hakuna Matata!'_ Danny thought with a chuckle.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end sooner or later. Upon sighting FentonWorks, he flew down and landed in front of the odd-looking building and quickly checked for any people. Seeing the street was deserted, he transformed back into Danny Fenton and opened the door.

The lounge room was one of the few places in the house that had no ghostly gadgets in it, leaving it plain and normal-looking. His father was sitting on the lounge doing needlepoint. Jack Fenton looked a little out of place sitting in the ordinary lounge room in his large, bright orange hazmat suit. He looked up as Danny came in.

"Hey son, you're home!" he said in his usual loud voice, "On time, too!"

The teenager rolled his eyes at his dad and went upstairs, his feet partially dragging on every step. Half an hour later he was sound asleep in bed, curled slightly beneath the covers with his mouth open.

* * *

_Wind whistled past his ears, but he couldn't feel it. Despite feeling chilly to everyone else and able to turn intangible at will, Danny could always feel the wind. While he was intangible the wind went through him, though he could still feel it to a degree. He was tangible at the moment, but the fact that he couldn't feel the wind at all was confusing and a touch troubling._

_He was flying over a vast lake, watching the shimmering surface of midnight blue reflect all that was above it. Danny could see his ghostly aura light up the surface like a giant white firefly. Many stars twinkled above him and the moon was full and bright._

_In the distance was a dark castle, its features indistinguishable despite the moonlight. The castle sat atop a hill of sorts, vaguely resembling the castles perched on cliffs that Dracula always seemed to inhabit in all the vampire movies. It loomed closer and closer and…suddenly seemed to disappear._

* * *

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEE-

A hand awkwardly turned the annoying device off. It, and the arm it was attached to, withdrew back under the warmth of the covers. A mess of raven-black hair could be seen amidst the jumble of sheets, spread messily on a light blue pillow. A zombie-like moan erupted from under the sheets.

"Why does school have to start so early?" Danny muttered sleepily, trying and failing to suppress a yawn. Still grumbling about it being too early, he started to get ready for school. He grabbed a clean t-shirt and pair of pants. He met his sister coming out of the bathroom on his way in.

"Good morning, Danny!" she said cheerfully.

"Morning Jazz…" he replied unenthusiastically. He got out of his pyjamas and turned on the shower. Danny let the warm water wash away his sleepiness. He walked into the kitchen, fully dressed and awake, fifteen minutes later. Grabbing a bowl, spoon, carton of milk and a box of cereal, Danny set about the task of breakfast.

In between the crunches his cereal made, he could hear his dad tinkering with a new gadget down in the lab. Luckily there was no smoke wafting up the basement stairs, so he knew that nothing was on fire or had exploded yet.

His mum was making her husband some waffles for breakfast. She was using the proper appliances instead of her ecto-powered ones for once. His sister was sitting at the table calmly reading a book. Breakfast went by blessedly smoothly, and when he was done, Jazz offered to drive him to school. It wasn't often that Jazz extended such an invitation to her little brother, so he eagerly accepted and followed her out the door.

"Have a good day at school!" their mother called just before the door swung shut. The siblings got in Jazz's car and she drove off, heading for Casper High.

The car ride went a little less smoothly than breakfast. When they were only three blocks away from FentonWorks, Jazz began grilling him. She asked him all about the ghosts he had faced since the last time she had spoken to him like this, and if he had been hurt while fighting any of them. Danny had to firmly reassure her that he was perfectly fine before she eased up and gave him a small, apologetic smile.

As Jazz pulled up at Casper High, Sam came running up; Tucker was a little behind. Danny got out of the car and his sister went to park it. He was immediately confronted by Sam the instant Jazz pulled away from the curb.

"Did you tell anyone?" she demanded.

"No, you've sworn me to secrecy, so be secret about it I shall!" he exclaimed dramatically, shoving his fist in the air to prove his point.

"Dude, what are you doing?" Tucker panted, finally having caught up. Danny lowered his hand.

"Nothing, Tuck. Come on; let's get to class before I'm late…again."

Sam and Tucker nodded, walking with Danny towards the building they dreaded. The bell rang just as they sat down. Mr. Lancer finished writing on the board and turned to face his class.

"Now today we'll be discussing the finer points of Shakespeare's work," Lancer said, managing to sound both excited about Shakespeare and unenthusiastic about getting the room full of teenagers to do the same.

The class groaned. Slowly, like condemned people, they each opened a copy of Hamlet that Mr. Lancer had placed on their desks. After what seemed like an eternity, the bell rang. Eager to escape English, the students swiftly packed up. Danny, Sam and Tucker headed to science. After a couple of dull hours, if you didn't count the explosions that occurred, and the smell of singed hair was thankfully removed, it was lunchtime.

"I am never letting Tucker handle the chemicals in science ever again…" Danny muttered. He stuck a hand behind his head and ruffled his messy hair, trying to disguise the fact that a few locks had been partially burnt off at the back. Sam was watching him scowl with a deeply amused look on her face.

The three grabbed a lunch tray each and walked past the old, grumpy lunch lady who proceeded to dump a lump of some unidentifiable meat onto Danny and Tucker's trays; Sam having gone straight past the lady to where the green stuff, that was _supposed_ to be green, was. Danny didn't blame her. Even _he_ had his doubts about the green-tinged mystery meat.

"Blessed meat, come to daddy!" Tucker crooned at his food as soon as they had sat at their usual table.

"Ugh, gross," Sam said.

Danny knew that unless he headed them off now, this was more than likely going to become another of his friends' Meat vs. Veggies fights. Danny himself had a good balance of both. _'What's the point in getting involved? They're not gonna listen,'_ he always told himself. He never paid his friends much attention when they fought like this, though he usually got dragged into it anyway.

"I had that same dream again last night," he said as a diversionary tactic. It worked beautifully; they both stopped and turned to him.

"You mean the one with the cool dark castle?" Sam asked, the Goth liking the idea.

"Yep, that's the one."

Tucker looked thoughtful as he poked his meat with his fork. "You've had that same dream every night for a week! Maybe it means something important?" he theorised.

Sam, who was into the obscure arts, found the idea vaguely intriguing. "Interpreting dreams is said to be really hard. There has to be something going on for you to have a recurring dream like that."

Danny put his head in his hands and his elbows on the table. "If there is, I don't know what that something is. It's just a lake and a castle, how can that mean anything?"

Sam and Tucker looked at each other, unsure how to answer. Since their friend was half ghost, there could be any number of reasons for the dreams. Still, neither could even begin to guess what a lake and a castle symbolised.

"You don't think the castle has anything to do with Vlad, do you?" Tucker suddenly asked.

Danny frowned. "The castle doesn't look like any of Vlad's buildings," he answered after a moment.

"I doubt Vlad's involved. He's got a lot of powers, but nothing along the lines of telepathy or anything. Maybe the dreams will just go away?" Sam suggested hopefully, attempting to bolster Danny's flagging mood.

"Yeah man, don't worry about it! Just do what you always do," Tucker added.

Danny smiled gratefully. "Thanks guys."

They had a pop quiz in math after lunch. When Dash saw the large red 'D' scrawled on top of his quiz after he got it back, he made sure to track Danny down in the hallway. Once he had located Danny, Dash then proceeded to stuff him into his locker as retribution for his poor grade. Dash's poor grade was in no way Danny's fault, but it was one of the jock's favourite excuses to pick on the smaller boy.

In another brief break between periods the Box Ghost burst out of a box, but he was sucked into the Thermos not long after. When the school bell rang to signal the end of the educational hours the trio walked out, splitting up after deciding to meet at the Nasty Burger tomorrow to celebrate the end of the school week.

* * *

"Curse you, Potter! How were you able to wriggle out of that?" Dolores Umbridge seethed to herself. The short, squat woman had attended Harry Potter's trial only three hours earlier. She knew that if Dumbledore hadn't shown up, they would've had that miserable Potter.

Her heels, which didn't really add to her height, clacked against the polished marble floor. She was on her way to her own office, having just come from speaking to the Minister himself. As Umbridge was Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, she had a rather nice office located on a hallway with only a few other important offices spread along its length.

Echoing voices could be heard in a room a bit farther ahead. Umbridge had the need to know everything that went on around her, so she walked up to the room. It was on the left side of the corridor and the door was slightly ajar, allowing her to peek into the room.

There were two ghosts inside. Both of them looked like noblemen from a past age and they appeared to be deeply absorbed in their conversation, neither of them noticing the eavesdropper.

"Yes, I'm not sure how either. Mmhmm, they call him the 'Halfa'," said the ghost closest to the door, with an air of sophistication laced into his words.

"The 'Halfa'?" the second ghost repeated inquiringly in a deep voice, bemused. "What's a halfa?"

"I'm not sure," the first ghost replied, uncertainty colouring his tone. He floated side to side about an inch each way, as though he was shifting on his feet. Since he was floating a couple of inches off the ground, the whole gesture looked a touch weird. He brushed some imaginary dust off his transparent sleeve. "All I know is that the other ghosts say he's powerful."

The second ghost's eyes widened and he leaned in closer to his friend. The two continued to talk in hushed tones, though Umbridge could no longer hear what was being said. She pulled back from the door, her mind whirling from all she had overheard.

This recent information confused her. All ghosts did were float, go through things and turn invisible, unless they meant status-based power, but the ghosts didn't have any real authority figures. Except those who represented their fellow spirits at the Ministry, but even they had no real official power…

What if it was not a ghost at all? The name 'Halfa' struck a despised cord within the Senior Undersecretary. Anything with that sort of name had to be a half-breed of some sort, and it was most likely formed from crossing two species illegally.

Umbridge hastily walked back to her office. She wanted to look into this.

* * *

**A/N:** There, I managed to add about 1,000 or so words! I didn't leave many sentences completely untouched and I added plenty of new paragraphs. What do you think? Is it better than the original? If you guys think it is, then I'll start rewriting chapter 2.

Just a note, but there really is such a thing as a Holy Frying Pan. It's the most powerful weapon available for Paula in the Super Nintendo game Earthbound.

~Fantomo


	2. Recruitment for Trouble

**A/N:** There you go, chapter two has gotten a new look as well. Esme Kali Phantom helped with the spell when I first wrote this long ago, so I still want to say a big thank you! Okay, enough outta me.

**Disclaimer:** DP and HP belong to Butch Hartman and J.K. Rowling respectively. If I were them, I would not be writing this would I?

'_Thoughts'_

"Speech"

* * *

In a fair-sized office along a mostly empty corridor, four people stood before a fifth person seated at a nicely carved wooden desk. The room was lit solely by the low fire that crackled away in the fireplace. The fireplace was located in the wall directly behind the desk, which threw the seated figure's front into shadow, lending the person an eerie air about them.

The four seemed to disregard the atmosphere, the flickering shadows of amber and black that danced on the walls were ignored. Their focus was on the seated person.

"You said you had a job for us?" asked a tall man with a deep voice. Three other people stood beside him, all four of them had their features mostly hidden by the low level of flickering light. The man who spoke had slightly rough features, though the firelight smoothed most of the angles of his face.

"Indeed," replied Umbridge in a slightly sinister tone. She surveyed the people before her, peering at them over her interlocked fingers. "You four are loyal, trusted, Ministry employees. You are also some of the finest Aurors here."

The tall man seemed to puff up. Raising his fist to his chest he bowed a little, though his head was still at a higher level than hers. "We are yours to command," he said in a vaguely militaristic tone.

The shortest of the four Aurors fidgeted, shifting a touch from foot to foot, barely perceptible unless you were watching closely. Though trained to catch dark wizards, the dancing shadows and serious atmosphere were beginning to affect the shortest Auror, stirring the imagination.

"Excellent," Umbridge purred. "Your mission is to find and capture a creature called a 'halfa'. The ghosts have heard of it and they say it's powerful." Umbridge fixed them with an icy stare. "I want it bound and gagged in front of me. Unfortunately, I have no idea of its location."

The man on the far left spoke up suddenly. "Then how are we supposed to catch it?" Umbridge clucked her tongue impatiently and favoured the man with a condescending glare.

"Really, Shacklebolt, use your brain! Simply use a spell that will locate a single, large amount of spectral energy. I would have done it myself, but a search of this magnitude would eat up far too much of my time and I'm busy with others matters." Kingsley Shacklebolt bowed his head, embarrassed. She brought her attention back to the tall one. "Tebbes, I'm leaving you in charge of this."

"Yes, ma'am," he murmured and bowed again. "We will not disappoint you." Leading the way, his new team followed him out the door.

Umbridge watched them leave, but did not let her polite half-smile become a fully fledged smirk until the soft click of the door closing reached her ears. The amber and black continued to twirl around each other in a mock ballet.

* * *

The room was bathed in soft, magical light coming from a single brazier that hung from the ceiling. A large map of the world was pinned to one of the walls while the other three were blank. This room was used for the specific purpose of locating things, though quite a few members of the magical world could not be found this way due to natural abilities or making themselves untraceable by using an Unplottable charm. The four Aurors felt safe from prying eyes because it was two in the morning; the Ministry was mostly deserted. A few workers were still around, but no-one was on their floor. Rift Tebbes raised his wand and opened his mouth.

"Why are we looking for spectral energy?" Dawlish interrupted. Tebbes bit back a sigh of frustration and turned to the other man.

"Because," he said as if Dawlish were a five-year-old, "for only the ghosts to know of it, it must be a creature of the spectral plane. So to find it, we look for a single, large spike of spectral energy. Got it?" Dawlish nodded, looking like he had been struck in the face with something. "Good."

Rift raised his wand again. "Arcanum find et ectium!" he cried. As soon as the last word left his mouth, the room got brighter. The large map on the wall was lighting up with hundreds of tiny pinpricks of glowing light. Most were the normal white or grey of spectral energy, but, oddly, there were a few different coloured specks of light in America. The other three people in the room rose to examine the specks.

"There's a fair amount of energy here," the shortest said, pointing to a spot of green light. "Do you think that could be it?"

Kingsley came over and stood right beside her, eyes glued to the map. "It can't be," he announced after a couple of minutes. "See here, another spot, exactly the same size." He pointed to another speck of green, not far from the first. "Sorry Tonks, keep looking." Tonks sighed and resumed searching.

Minutes passed in silence, broken only by scuffling footsteps when someone changed position. Dawlish began tapping his foot impatiently. Scowling, he leaned closer to the map, eyes narrowed in focus and frustration. "This is taking forever!" he growled.

"Forever?" Kingsley repeated, "We've only been searching for ten minutes!"

"And we're not done yet, so shut up and keep searching!" Rift half yelled, trying to keep his voice down.

"Whoa!" exclaimed Tonks. The others rushed over, jostling each other a bit in their haste.

"What, you find it?" one of them asked.

"I think so," she said excitedly. "Look here!" She pointed towards a large, bright speck of green light. The others crowded a little closer, straining their eyes to follow her outstretched finger.

"What makes it so special from the others?" Rift asked, curious but partially sceptical. She had already called a false alarm and seemed like the kind of person to do so multiple times. Tonks kept her eyes trained on the speck so she wouldn't lose it. She knew that if she took her eyes off it, she'd probably never find it again.

"Because this speck was really small a minute ago," she answered without looking up.

"Okay, I don't follow," Kingsley said in confusion.

"Well," Tonks began, "I was searching, like we're supposed to, and I came across a really tiny speck. I wasn't sure if I was seeing things, so I kept watching it. All of a sudden it got bigger, like it exploded!"

Rift nodded. "It certainly is odd, but is it the halfa?"

"Hey, look! It seems to be pulsing!"

The three behind Tonks looked at each other, all coming to the same decision. "Mark where that is and go prepare," Rift ordered, his brown eyes blazing. "We're going for a little overseas trip."

* * *

"Aaaah, that hit the spot!"

Sam looked at her friend, disgusted. "How many innocent animals had to be sacrificed to make all those burgers you ate?" She had her arms crossed and her amethyst eyes were staring hard at Tucker, who was blithely ignoring her. After years of hearing the same protests over and over, Tucker had become a master at tuning them out and brushing them off, though Sam never gave up or backed down. Not even after the first Lunch Lady fiasco that had come about because of her anti-meat ways.

Danny rolled his eyes, far too used to this behaviour from his two best friends to bother getting involved. Suddenly his ghost sense went off, a blue wisp of icy breath escaping past his lips involuntarily. Now on the alert, he looked around for the ghost. Sam and Tucker stopped bickering when Danny's ghost sense had activated and were both on the lookout as well. A streak of green flashed by so closely that its slipstream ruffled Danny's hair.

"There!" shouted Tucker, unnecessarily pointing at the green blur rapidly getting further away.

"Wow, it's fast," Sam remarked while standing up. "Quick Danny! Hurry, before you lose it!" Danny nodded, Tucker and he both hopping to their feet.

"All clear, dude," said Tucker, after making sure the alley three feet away was clear.

Danny quickly sped into the alley, foregoing his battle cry. Still running, Danny let the familiar white ring of energy appear at his waist and split, going ghost and flying up. Floating high above the buildings, he scanned the area. He could see a green smudge racing around. "Sam wasn't kidding when she said it was fast…"

* * *

Harry gratefully accepted the breakfast of toast and eggs that Mrs. Weasley set in front of him. His hair was a mess, untameable as usual, and he looked like he'd rather still be in bed. Ron, sporting a similar expression, sat down beside him, yawning, with Hermione following, much more awake.

Mrs. Weasley bustled about getting breakfast for them. When plates of food had been set in front of Ron and Hermione, the mother of nine gathered up all the cups, plates and cutlery used by others who had already departed the house with a wave of her wand and levitated them to the sink. Giving her wand another couple of waves, the sink began to fill up with hot, soapy water. When it was full, the dirty items set about washing themselves, creating a background hum of moving water, soft scrubbing and gentle clinking.

"Morning guys," said Ginny from across the table. She received mumbled replies from the boys and a bright 'Good morning!' from Hermione. Huffing at the boys she asked, "Guess what we're doing today?"

At this, they both looked up to stare at her. Harry had a guarded look about him while Ron moaned. "Don't tell me we're doing _more_ cleaning…"

Ginny just gave a pained grin. A dull thud was heard as Ron's head hit the table. A muffled and half-hearted exclamation of pain emanated from him, though he didn't move.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, prompting Mrs. Black to start screeching. Harry heard Mrs. Weasley mutter, "I've told everyone, time and again, not to use the doorbell!" as she swiftly walked past on her way to the door. The four teens hurried after her to see who it was.

They weren't all that surprised to find it was Tonks. She always forgot not to ring the doorbell. Mrs. Weasley ushered her inside and lead the way back to the kitchen, studiously ignoring the screaming picture. Harry and the others quickly rushed back to their seats so Mrs. Weasley wouldn't think they were spying. Both adults entered, Mrs. Weasley going back to washing the dishes while Tonks remained standing, a serious look on her face. All in the room noticed her uncharacteristic expression and looked at her expectantly.

"Is something wrong, Tonks?" Ginny ventured to ask, breaking the strange and awkward silence that the kitchen had suddenly adopted.

"Not really," Tonks replied absently. She looked squarely at Mrs. Weasley. "Though I _do_ have something to speak to the Order about."

* * *

**A/N:** Right, that's chapter two down. I was unhappy with this chapter when I originally wrote it, but I like it a fair bit better now.

It's just under 2,000 words. A little shorter than I had hoped, but I found that I couldn't stretch it any further. I added plenty of new paragraphs and modified a whole heap of others. I hope that you, like me, find this newer version an improvement over the original. I'll be rewriting chapter three as well.

Review and let me know what you think. I love hearing your thoughts! Constructive criticism is much appreciated, though flames are not.

~FantomoDrako


	3. Covert Happenings

**A/N:** Yes, like the first two, chapter three has gotten a much-needed facelift. I hope you like the changes. I'm especially proud of the revamped dream scenes. :P

**Disclaimer:** Wow, writing these every time is a bit annoying, isn't it? Anyway, I officially do not own Danny Phantom or Harry Potter. However, I do own Rift Tebbes. You may use him if you want, but _only_ _with my permission_.

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

* * *

**Chapter Three: Covert Happenings**

"Is something wrong, Tonks?" Ginny ventured to ask, breaking the strange and awkward silence that the kitchen had suddenly adopted.

"Not really," Tonks replied absently. She looked squarely at Mrs. Weasley. "Though I _do_ have something to speak to the Order about."

Mrs. Weasley looked at Tonks with apprehensive curiosity. "How serious is it?" she asked, furtively glancing at the teens and wondering if perhaps she should usher them out.

Tonks' face abruptly assumed a blank, vaguely confused expression. "I don't really know…" She hitched a smile on her face. "Kingsley's involved as well, so we can both explain to the Order. If anyone knows anything about it, we may have to tell Dumbledore. Even if nobody knows anything we still may have to tell him."

Harry's interest piqued at the Headmaster's name. _'It must be something either big or really interesting to involve Dumbledore. I wonder what it could be. A new weapon against Voldemort? Or maybe it's some new piece of information about him or the Death Eaters? Either way I'll doubt we'll be allowed to sit in on the meeting to find out.'_

The thoughts of the others in the room were running along similar lines. It was Mrs. Weasley who broke the silence that had invaded the kitchen. "Kingsley? Is he coming here later? If he is, we'll have to contact as many as we can." She frowned thoughtfully. "Or do you think that's going a bit far? I mean, you don't even know how serious this news is to the Order. We can't go contacting members left and right without a very good reason."

"Can you tell us anything regarding what you're talking about?" Hermione asked. "Maybe if we knew more, we might be able to figure out how serious it is. That way, you wouldn't have to contact members, or Dumbledore, unnecessarily." Everyone stared at her. "What?" she asked, a bit self-consciously.

Tonks looked unsure for a moment, but Mrs. Weasley interrupted before she could open her mouth. "I'm not sure this is something that concerns you kids." All four immediately started protesting the expected exclusion.

"But you don't even know what it's about! It might have nothing to do with the Order, so why can't we know?" Ginny asked angrily, glaring at her mother. She looked to the others for support. Ron, Harry and Hermione all quickly nodded while Tonks still looked unsure.

Mrs. Weasley sighed, not wanting to get into an argument this early. She decided to try a different approach. "Look, just leave the Order to deal with this. If it's not important or not related to the Order, we'll tell you after, okay?" she sighed, silently hoping they would accept. Tonks was glad that Molly was handling this. The red haired matriarch had that air of authority one needed to deal with teenagers.

The four glanced at each other, weighing up their decision. After a brief moment, they seemed to reach an accord. Ginny stood up and faced her mother. "Fine," she stated simply. She turned and walked off without another word. The other three followed her, having eaten enough. They were mostly eager to be away from Mrs. Weasley. Ron especially knew how angry she could get.

Ginny was waiting at the foot of the stairs. Once the others had caught up, she continued walking until she reached the room where Fred and George were. She knocked, ignoring the strange, muffled sounds coming from within. It didn't bode well when the usual bangs and pops from behind that particular door were absent.

The noise inside the room instantly stopped, though sometimes this wasn't a good thing. Footsteps were heard and the door was opened a crack, blocked by Fred's body so no one could see in. He relaxed when he saw who it was. "Oh, for a moment there I thought you were Mum," he said, grinning.

"What's up?" George asked, flinging the door open wide and giving the others a good view of a very, _very_ messy room. Saying a typhoon had hit the room did it no justice whatsoever. How they ever managed to find any of their stuff in the mess was a mystery to all but the two identical brothers.

Ginny looked directly at the twins, averting her eyes from the pigsty they called a room. "We have something to tell you."

* * *

Danny gritted his teeth and sped after the ghost. It was going so fast Danny had a hard time just keeping it in sight. _'There is no way I can catch it like this, it's too fast…'_ he thought with a frown. A wicked grin suddenly spread across his face and Danny closed his eyes in concentration. When he opened them, three copies of him blinked back. The original Danny nodded and all four sped off. The three duplicates flew around the buildings, trying to get in front of the ghost and cut it off. Danny continued to chase it from behind, aiming ice at it whenever he got a clear shot.

The ghost, little more than a streamlined green blob with beady red eyes, knew it was faster than the one who kept shooting at it, but it was tired of being chased. It suddenly veered right, going straight through a building. It grinned, knowing it would be relatively easy to lose his pursuer now. It could go any direction and the halfa only had one guess as to which one it would take. It decided to go right again, which would leave it heading in the direction it just came from. _'The halfa won't be expecting that!'_ it thought with a grin.

When the ghost flew into the building, Danny and his copies surrounded it, each guarding a side. _'I hope it doesn't go underground!'_ Danny silently prayed. When a triumphant "Aha!" came from the right side of the building, Danny knew one of his duplicates had caught it. He quickly flew towards the scuffle, Fenton Thermos ready, before it got away.

The small ghost had just come through the wall when a white-gloved hand came from out of the blue and held it by its small ghostly tail. It wriggled, squirmed, and tried, unsuccessfully, to bite the offending appendage. Danny's duplicate froze the ghost so it couldn't phase out and escape. He had just finished when the others and the original arrived. Danny quickly aimed the Thermos and sucked it in, giving a tired sigh as his copies vanished. "Finally!" he practically shouted, and sped towards FentonWorks with his prize. He didn't want someone or something to accidentally release his newest catch; the half-ghost was sure the same trick wouldn't work twice if the fast little blob escaped.

Flying always calmed Danny down, unless he was racing to save someone. He enjoyed the flight back to FentonWorks, even going as far as performing a few small twists and loops. _'I should fly for fun more often. It's a great stress reliever!'_ He went intangible and headed towards the lab, keeping an eye out for his parents. _'I'm too tired to deal with them right now; I just wanna go to bed.'_ He pushed the Thermos into the release slot and hit the button. With a screechy wail, the small ghost vanished into the depths of swirling green.

Relinquishing his hold on his ghost half, Danny slowly trudged upstairs. To his relief his parents weren't home. Thinking of nothing but the thought of his soft bed, he nearly jumped out of his skin when Jazz poked her head into the hallway. She gave him a smile, letting him know, without words, that she was glad he was now home safe. He gave a nod in reply and she retreated back to her room.

Danny and Jazz had become quite adept at communicating without words. It was especially handy when their parents were home as they could ask and answer questions all without uttering a sound. _Were you ghost hunting? Yes. Did you catch the ghost? Yes. Are you alright? Yes, now stop worrying. I'm sorry, I'm your big sister and I can't help it. I know._

They had also developed a sort of pseudo-code to use if they had to say something in the presence of others that could not be conveyed soundlessly. Jazz sometimes felt like a spymaster coordinating and checking in with her field agents.

Danny shut his bedroom door and stretched, frowning a little at the slight pop and crack his back made. He sent Sam and Tucker a quick text message to let them know he had caught the ghost. After changing into his pyjamas and brushing his teeth, he gratefully collapsed on his bed and snuggled under the covers. Sleep was not long in following.

* * *

_He heard the wind whistling past him as he flew over a great lake. The feeling of freedom and of leaving his troubles behind him had only just begun to overtake him when he looked down. The usually shimmering lake surface was pitch black. No moon or stars were reflected, even though the lake was completely becalmed. Curious at this change, the young half-ghost looked ahead for the castle. Sure enough there it was on top of the large hill. The dark castle was steadily getting closer and closer. Danny was waiting for it to disappear like usual when two crimson eyes suddenly appeared in the sky above it._

_The blood-hued eyes had slit pupils and seemed to freeze his insides. Their angry gaze bore down on him, worse than any glare he had ever received from Vlad's ghostly red eyes. Unable to move Danny could do nothing but wait for the pain those eyes seemed to promise him._

_Without warning, a jagged bolt of white lightning shot down in between the hate-filled eyes and a scream of pure agony ripped through the air. Danny, having been released from his paralysis when the lightning came, felt himself falling. He couldn't fly or even turn intangible, though he wasn't frightened for some reason that he couldn't fathom. He continued falling, unable to stop himself, until the darkness swallowed him._

* * *

Blue eyes twinkled behind half-moon glasses. Albus Dumbledore was pondering over the information the Order had told him. He knew Harry would want to know, but he didn't want to tell the boy potentially dangerous information. This…'Halfa' issue would need to be looked into. Albus wanted to send some people to investigate, but who? Many of the Order's members would be far too conspicuous if they were to be seen away from work for no discernible reason.

According to Tonks and Kingsley, four Aurors (including them) were leaving on a top-secret assignment to a place called Amity Park in America. _'With two Order members already there, it will be much easier to gather information.' _he thought. '_Now to get one or two more over there without raising suspicion.' _

The headmaster of Hogwarts glanced at his pet, Fawkes. The phoenix was asleep, its head tucked into one wing of beautiful gold and red plumage. Albus was left with these thoughts as he tried to figure out a workable plan.

* * *

_Harry looked around the dark place he found himself in. He couldn't make out any features and had no idea if he was in a small room or large hall; though he knew he was indoors. It was intimidating to say the least. No matter how many times he said an incantation, no matter how hard he concentrated, his wand would not work. How Harry wished for some sort of light._

_A deep crimson glow was slowly starting to spread throughout the endless dark. Harry did not consider this much of an improvement. He still couldn't make out any features, not even walls or a roof. Hissing noises suddenly sprang up out of nowhere and echoed around, reverberating off invisible walls. The hissing was too confused and overlapped for Harry to understand and he frantically looked around for any sign of a snake, no matter how small. The hissing was causing a build-up of pain to blossom in Harry's head, causing his scar to burn like fire._

_Just as he was about to start screaming for it to stop, a coldness seemed to fall over him. It was not the clammy cold the Dementors caused. Strange though it was, Harry felt oddly protected by the chill and it took away the burning pain in his scar. A green blast shot from somewhere and went straight up. Large rumbling and cracking sounds could be heard over the now pained hissing. The pain in his head was now completely gone and Harry's surroundings turned white._

* * *

Two boys, many miles away from each other, both sat up in bed breathing heavily. Both pondered the strange dream they had.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, how's that? I managed to add at least a bit more. This chapter was ridiculously sparse. It just goes to show how much a person's writing can differ in...5 years. O_o Whoa. Yeah, I first started this story back in 2007. Five years later I only have 10 chapters to show for it. An average 2 chapters a year? Yikes!

Mind you, I've done a lot of other stories, both chapters and one-shots, in that span. Still, PPP is terribly hard for me to write. Why? I have no clue. I am tremendously grateful to everyone who has stuck with this story throughout the years. I look forward to your continued support!

I hope you like the rewrite as much as I do and find it an improvement over the cringe-worthy original. This is the last chapter I'm rewriting so the next update will be a brand new chapter.

~FantomoDrako


	4. Cunning as a Fox, or Wolf?

**A/N:** Hey there! Sorry ever so much for the slow updates! If you go to my profile page, you'll know why I'm slow. The amount of people who like this fic is overwhelming to me! Considering it's my first proper fic I'm ecstatic about the reviews! I haven't got a single negative one yet. - Thanks to one reviewer **Haruhibunny** who suggested I do a recap of the last chapter as a fair amount of time passes between each one. Many, many thanks to **Em Phantom **for beta-ing this for me! But now, for your long-awaited 4th chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I own neither. If I did, I wouldn't be looking for a job…

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Danny, while in ghost form, will now be referred to as Phantom. :)**

**Recap:**

_He heard the wind whistling past him as he flew over a great lake. The usually shimmering surface was pitch black. No moon or stars were reflected. Curious at this change, the young half-ghost looked ahead for the castle. Sure enough there it was on top of the large hill. The dark castle was getting closer and closer. Danny was waiting for it to disappear when two crimson eyes appeared in the sky above it. The slitted eyes seemed to freeze his insides. Unable to move, Danny waited for the pain those eyes seemed to promise him. Without warning, a jagged bolt of lightning shot down in between the hate-filled eyes and a scream of pure agony ripped through the air. Danny, having been released from his paralysis when the lightning came, felt himself falling. He continued falling, unable to stop himself, until the darkness swallowed him._

* * *

Blue eyes twinkled behind half-moon glasses. Albus Dumbledore was pondering over the information the Order had told him. He knew Harry would want to know, but he didn't want to tell the boy potentially dangerous information. This…'Halfa' issue would need to be looked into. Albus wanted to send some people to investigate, but who? According to Tonks and Kingsley, four Aurors (including them) were leaving on a top-secret assignment to a place called Amity Park in America. _'__With two Order members already there, it will be much easier to gather information.__'_he thought. '_Now to get one or two more over there without raising suspicion.__'_

Albus was left with these thoughts as he tried to figure out a way for it to work.

* * *

_Harry looked around the dark place. It was intimidating to say the least. No matter how many times he said an incantation, no matter how hard he concentrated, his wand would not work. How Harry wished for some sort of light. A deep crimson glow was slowly starting to spread throughout the endless dark. Harry did not consider this much of an improvement. Hissing noises echoed around, reverberating off invisible walls. The hissing was too confused and overlapped for Harry to understand. The hissing was causing a build-up of pain to blossom in Harry__'__s head. Just as he was about to start screaming for it to stop, a coldness seemed to fall over him. It was not the clammy cold the dementors caused. Strange though it was, Harry felt oddly protected by the chill. A green blast shot from somewhere and went straight up. Large rumbling and cracking sounds could be heard over the now pained hissing. The pain in his head was gone and Harry__'__s surroundings turned white._

* * *

Two boys, many miles away from each other, both sat up in bed breathing heavily. Both pondered the strange dream they had.

* * *

**Chapter 4: Cunning as a Fox, or...Wolf?**

**  
**Remus Lupin sighed as he headed for the place Albus had managed to rent for him for a while. Between the two of them, they had managed to concoct a very convincing cover story. Remus, on behalf of the werewolves, was here investigating the rumours of a large 'wolf-man' said to have attacked a while ago. On the pretence of finding the 'wolf-man' and trying to convince it to return with him and the underground werewolves, Remus was going to keep an eye out for the 'halfa' and talk to it if he could. Remus sighed again as he stopped in front of the house whose address he held in his hand. Remus was not rich by any means, so to keep up appearances, the place did look a little run-down. He had been assured that everything worked. No, the reason this place was so cheap was because of the neighbours on the opposite side of the block. His backyard was connected to theirs, separated only by a fence. They were 'crazy, ghost-hunting, peace disturbing freaks' according to the real estate agency. He had actually been interested to hear this. Maybe they knew many ghosts? Maybe they even knew the halfa? He didn't want to ask them that directly though. It would raise suspicion. Walking to his new room for an untold amount of time, the werewolf sighed again and began to unpack.

* * *

Sunday. A blessed day where school was not involved. Three teens cherished this day, like they do every weekend. Although, for these three, work was still involved. Hunting and catching ghosts took time and effort. It was also a full time job around Amity Park. Danny, Tucker and Sam were heading to FentonWorks to cram in as much relaxing as they could. Danny, however, was troubled by the change in his dream. He had only felt that kind of fear a few times. When he saw his future, when the Nasty Burger exploded, when he was fighting Pariah, the Ghost King…

Sam, sensing something was weighing on Danny's mind, was fully prepared to make him talk about it. _'If he keeps bottling things up inside, it'll eat him away from the inside out.'_ Oh yes, Sam would make him talk.

Tucker was simply thinking of what was for tea at his house tonight.

The three entered the strange building and headed up to Danny's room. Closing the door, Tucker sat down on Danny's desk chair. Danny flopped down on his bed while Sam sat beside him.

"So, now what?" Tucker asked, shattering the peaceful quiet.

* * *

"Interesting, very interesting."

"Indeed, Gred, this merits deep investigation."

"Indeed it does, Forge."

"Count us in!" George said excited. Mischief danced across the eyes of the twins.

"We were hoping you'd say that." Ginny grinned.

"How are we going to find out if it IS too important to tell us?" Hermione asked, frowning slightly. "I'm sure they'll put an Imperturbable Charm on the door, after all, they've done it before. So we can't use the Extendable Ears."

Everyone frowned at this. The Extendable Ears were really their only way to find out things. If the door was Imperturbed, they'd have to wheedle the information out of someone.

"We'll have to check. I'll flick some Dungbombs at it like I did last time." Ginny piped up.

"Ron and I will stand just on the stairs to relay the signal up if it's clear or not. If it is, you'll have to lower the Extendable Ears down quickly or we might miss something important." Harry said. The others nodded their heads in agreement.

"They'll probably get enough Order members together by tomorrow. Everyone, keep an eye out and let the others know if they're heading into a meeting." Fred announced, a serious look on his face.

"Roger that, captain!" George exclaimed, saluting his twin. Fred's serious look slipped off his face as everyone in the room laughed. The twins shooed the others from their room so no-one thought they were plotting something.

* * *

"I dunno, Tuck," said Danny with a little amusement colouring his tone. "I mean, look at us! We finally get some free time and we have no idea how to fill it in!"

Sam and Tucker had to nod at that. The silence was starting to grate on Sam when Tucker suddenly pointed out the window. "I thought that house was empty? How come there's a light on?"

Danny and Sam spun around on the bed and saw that Tucker was right. A light was indeed on. They could vaguely see a figure going back and forth in front of the window. Sam was the first to comment.

"Maybe someone moved in?"

Danny snorted in laughter. "They can't have lived around here or heard of my parents if they moved there."

Tucker looked thoughtful. "Maybe they're from another country and don't speak English very well and got it because it's cheap?" The others nodded, thinking it entirely plausible. Suddenly Danny groaned.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, concerned.

"I just hope my parents don't think whoever-it-is is a ghost. Or that my mum cooks them something as a welcome," the youngest Fenton said with apprehension. "I don't want anyone else, definitely not the new neighbours, to be attacked and possibly sprayed with goo, OR poisoned by my mother's toxic ecto-cooked food."

"Oh," Chorused his two best friends.

"Well," Sam said slowly, "maybe WE should go over there now, before your parents do and warn them?"

That perked Danny up immediately. "Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a great idea! Let's go right now!"

Sam and Tucker followed him as he bounced down the stairs and out the front door.

* * *

Remus unpacked the few things he brought with him. He had ended up moving empty boxes out the way for most of the time. The only other important thing he had to do was to try and keep away from the Aurors. Kingsley and Tonks were to be informed about his presence and role here before they left with the Ministry Aurors. He was pondering ways to subtly gather information on the 'halfa' and the 'wolf-man' when he heard the doorbell. _'I don't know anyone here…maybe it's just a sales clerk or something?' _he thought, a slight frown marring his face. Shrugging to himself, he walked over to the door and opened it, fully expecting an adult with a case of some sort. What he saw at his door was unexpected, to say the least. Standing there with slightly nervous, but determined looks on their faces, were three young teenagers, a girl and two boys.

Remus blinked. "Uh, hello, can I help you?"

The three teens blinked back. They weren't expecting him to speak good English, but he sounded British. Danny, determined to warn this stranger about the danger of opening the door to his parents, gathered his courage and looked the man straight in the eyes.

"Hello, my name is Danny Fenton and this is Sam and Tucker," he said, indicating his friends. "My family lives in the building whose backyard yours faces." Danny smiled, hoping the guy hadn't heard of his parents and thought their son was crazy too.

Remus blinked again. _'The 'ghost-hunters' son? Interesting. Wonder if he knows of the 'halfa' or the 'wolf-man'?_ He smiled back at the teen, who seemed to relax at that for some reason. "Nice to meet you Danny, Sam, Tucker," he said, shaking hands with each in turn. "What brings you to my new doorstep?"

"Just thought I should give you a warning beforehand."

Remus gained a slightly surprised look. "Warning? Whatever for? Oops, where are my manners? Come in and you can tell me." He held the door open, gesturing for them to enter, to which they obliged.. He ushered them to sit around a small table in the kitchen. "Would you like a drink or something?" he asked. All three politely refused. "So," he started, after getting comfortable. "What did you want to warn me about?"

Danny clasped his hands in front of him, elbows resting on the table. "Well, I don't mean to sound rude Mr. uh…."

"Remus Lupin. But please, just call me Remus."

"Okay, Remus. As I said, I don't mean to sound rude or offensive, but if my parents, Jack and Maddie, come to your door, please be careful. They both wear HazMat suits, so you should recognise them right away."

"Your parents? Why would I need to be careful? I've heard they only attack ghosts."

Danny blinked at that. _'So he HAS heard. Must be brave or poor to still move here…'_  
_  
_"Well, yes, they never attack humans, but…" Sam trailed off, turning to Danny.

Heaving a sigh, Danny continued.. "They can be a little paranoid sometimes. They may spray ectoplasmic goo at you if they suspect you're a ghost, which I'll be sure to tell them you aren't so that doesn't happen. It won't hurt, but it's a pain to clean up. Once I tell them there is a new neighbour who ISN'T a ghost, my mum will probably bake you something as a welcome gift." Here he stopped for a moment, a slight grimace on his face before he finished. "It's not that my mum is a bad cook, it's more the fact that she uses ecto-powered things to cook food with. It tends to turn the food nasty. If you're lucky, it'll just be glowing. But I have seen many things my mum cooks come to life and attack."

Remus sat there, not quite sure what to think of this information. "So, uh…what do you suggest?"

"If my mum comes with food, accept it. That will satisfy her. Once she's gone though, it would be best if you threw it away or flushed it immediately."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it, Danny. Is that all, or is there something else?"

Tucker decided to add to the conversation. "Yeah. If you see a ghost, run. You might get hurt if you stick around and watch the fight."

"Fight? I didn't know the ghosts fought, or do you mean when the Fentons fight them?"

"Well, Danny's dad isn't a very good aim, but no. I'm not really referring to the Fentons. I meant there's a good ghost that fights the others to protect people."

Remus raised a brow. _'Could this be a lead?'_

Sam, misinterpreting his look for scepticism, hoped to get him to believe that Danny was a good guy. _'It's too risky to say Danny Phantom as he might make the link. We should just call Danny's ghost-side Phantom.'_ Looking Remus right in the eye, Sam made her stand. "Yes, he IS a good ghost. A lot of people, including Danny's parents, think he's evil but he's not. Phantom is not dangerous or evil, so if you see him, please don't call any ghost hunters."

"Phantom? Okay, I'm willing to give this ghost a chance if you all say he's good. But…what does he look like?" he asked the teens. "I'd love to meet him and talk to him myself if I can." Inwardly the werewolf smiled. _'If I could personally meet the only 'good' ghost here, that would be a perfect way to start my search. This Phantom might even know the halfa. He might even BE the halfa! For these kids to say he's good when most don't, they must know him or have spoken to him personally.'_  
_  
_Sam decided to describe 'Phantom'. "Well, he looks like a teenage boy, has white hair, green eyes and wears a black and white HazMat suit with a white logo on the chest."

_'He's colourful? Not just see-through and pearly white? Now I HAVE to meet this ghost.'_ Remus nodded. "Thankyou. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for him. You kids don't happen to know a way to get a message to him, do you?"

This shocked Danny a bit. Quickly gathering his wits, he decided to choose his next words carefully. "Well, he does enter the lab in the basement of my house whenever he catches a ghost. The portal to the place all the ghosts come from is in there. It's usually shut, but every now and then a ghost will manage to get out." Danny looked a little cheesed at that as he said it. "Anyway, he has this device that catches ghosts. When he gets one, he lets it go through the portal. I catch him down there sometimes. I'm sure I could pass on a message for you."

Remus was curious about this portal to 'where ghosts come from' but that could wait, he told himself. "When you see him next, could you please ask if I could meet him? I just want to ask him a few questions."

Sam narrowed her eyes at him. "You're not saying that to lure him into a trap are you?" The suspicion was clear in her tone.

"A trap? Why would I trap who you three claim to be the good guy? No, I just want to ask him if he knows of this other ghost I've heard about."

Tucker was just about what ghost, as they could most likely tell him themselves when he felt Danny step on his toes. Looking over, he saw his half-ghost friend slightly shake his head in a warning. Danny didn't want this guy to know that they had such knowledge. Things could become complicated.

"Sure. I'll probably see him sometime tonight or tomorrow. Do you want me to tell him to come straight here?" Danny asked rather bluntly.

Remus smiled at the three. "Yes please. It doesn't matter what time it is. It would probably be best if he came over sometime during the night. He'll probably have less chance of being caught by your parents that way, right?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so. That's probably the best time for him to meet you anyway. He's usually very busy during the day as I hardly see him then." Danny was rather intrigued that the new guy wanted to meet '**Public Enemy no. 1' **and was looking forward to coming here as Phantom later tonight. "We better go, though. My parents don't know we came here and I don't want them to think we got kidnapped by a ghost." Danny said, rolling his eyes.

"Sure, let me show you out." Remus sat up and took the three to his front door. As he opened it, he turned to them. "Thanks for the warning about your parents. I'll make sure to be careful, like you said. Oh, and thanks for passing on my message when you see Phantom, too."

The three teens stepped outside. Smiling, Danny replied, "No problem. Phantom could use another person on his side, too. And I'd hate to see you attacked by some ecto-cooked monster. See ya around!" With that, they waved and walked around the block. They split up, Sam and Tucker heading home though, as they had homework to finish.

* * *

It was nearing midnight according to the clock hanging on the wall in the kitchen. Remus, too anxious about maybe meeting Phantom tonight, was sitting at the table drinking tea. _'My first day here and I already have a lead! It would certainly save me a lot of searching if this Phantom knows the halfa or the wolf creature. It would be even better if he IS the halfa! It would certainly fit. The only 'good' ghost around, fights and captures all the others and is apparently colourful as well.. I hope my hunch is right. That way I know the 'dreaded powerful halfa' is actually friendly.'_ Just then however, Remus was interrupted by a slight cough, the type you do to get someone's attention. He looked around for the source when he spotted a glowing figure, floating in the air about 2-3 meters in front of him. He took in the intruders appearance. _'White hair, green eyes, black and white suit with logo and looks like a teenager. So this is Phantom? Very interesting, not only can I see colours on him, he's actually solid-looking!'_  
_  
_Phantom, fighting the urge not to squirm under the man's gaze, gave a small wave. "Uh, hi, I'm Phantom. You're Remus Lupin, right?"

"Y-yes, I am. I'm glad to see Danny delivered my message. I'll be sure to thank him tomorrow." Remus said with a kind smile. He was pleased to see Phantom visibly relax.

"Danny told me you had something you wanted to ask me, Mr. Lupin?" he said, truly curious.

"Just call me Remus. Mr. Lupin makes me feel old." Remus said with a slight chuckle. Phantom blinked, but gave a small chuckle of his own.

"Ha ha, okay then, Remus. What can I do for you?"

Remus smiled, knowing then and there that he had an ally. "Well, I'm actually looking for a couple of ghosts. I was wondering if perhaps you could help me."

_'So he really was telling the truth about what he wanted…'_ the half-ghost hero thought with a smile. "Sure, do you know their names?"

Remus sighed, seeming to deflate slightly at that. "Unfortunately, no. I have a description of one and a…title of sorts, of the other."

Phantom nodded. "Okay, I can still probably help you. Just tell me what you know."

The werewolf nodded. "The description I have is of a large wolfish creature said to have attacked this town a few months ago. I think it was wearing some type of green clothing. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

To say Phantom was surprised was a bit of an understatement. "You must be talking about Wulf. What are you looking for him for, if I may ask?"

"His name is Wulf? You know him then?" Replied Remus, a bit startled to have such information already.

"Well, yeah. He's my friend. He only attacked because some bad ghost named Walker that caught him put a shock collar on him and would zap him if Wulf didn't do what Walker wanted. He's really a nice guy. What do you want him for? I won't let you hurt him!" Phantom declared, his eyes briefly glowing as he sent a withering glare at Remus.

Remus was a bit shocked at the sudden outburst and the way Phantom's eyes lit up. "N-no, you have me all wrong! I wanted to warn this…Wulf."

Phantom calmed a bit at that. He was still a little tense though. "Warn him of what? Wulf's only left the Ghost Zone twice since I've known him." He muttered under his breath, "That I know of anyway…"

"I wanted to warn him that a group of people in Britain have heard of him and want to 'recruit' him, one could say, to their cause." Remus frowned. "They are a vicious group and would use Wulf to kill and injure countless people. Since you know him, could you warn him to be on the alert? From what you've said, it sounds as though Wulf wouldn't cooperate if they did catch him. But they would most likely use something like that shock-collar you mentioned."

Phantom wasn't expecting a confession like that. In a state of numb shock, he floated to the ground. "I-I…I'm not sure where he lives in the Ghost Zone…but if I _do_ happen to run into him…I'll be sure…to pass on the warning…"

Remus was watching Phantom's reaction closely.. The teenage-looking ghost was just too interesting not to watch. "Thankyou," he replied sincerely. _'If the werewolves ask me where he is, I'll just say he was impossible to find or get in contact with. Which is sort of true.'_  
_  
_"What about the other one you're looking for? Do you need to warn them of something, too?" As he asked, Phantom's mind was racing, thinking of all the ghosts he knew with a 'title'. He hoped it wasn't Prince Aragon. Or the Ghost King. Or Skulker, Ghost Zone's 'Greatest Hunter'.

"Well," Remus started, trying to figure out an inconspicuous way to word this. Giving up, he decided to be blunt. "I have only heard it spoken of by ghosts. I'm not sure if it IS a ghost itself. They call it the 'Halfa'. And yes, I need to warn this 'halfa' too."

Phantom's brain almost shut down. If ghosts had a heartbeat, he was sure he'd probably be having a heart attack right now. _'He knows, he knows, he knows…'_ Was constantly running through his head.

Remus was again watching Phantom intently. _'He knows something, that much is plainly obvious. Could my hunch have been right? Is Phantom this 'halfa' Umbridge is searching for?'_ Clearing his throat, he attempted to gain Phantom's attention. 'Attempted' being the main word. Failing, Remus stood up and stopped in front of the catatonic-like ghost. Waving his hand in front of the ghost's face elicited no reaction either. Getting slightly worried now, Remus wondered if he would be able to touch Phantom. His hand always went through the ghosts at Hogwarts, but Phantom looked so _solid_. Slowly reaching out, his right hand hovered over Phantom's left shoulder. Slightly gritting his teeth, he brought his hand down, expecting his hand to go straight through and feel like it was encased in a bucket of ice. The shocked expression on his face when his hand made contact was priceless. Sirius would have paid any amount to get a picture of this moment. Remus felt a chill coming from Phantom, but that was all. He gently grabbed Phantom's other shoulder and softly shook him.

"Hey, hey! Phantom? Can you hear me? Answer me!"

Remus felt a wave of relief as Phantom seemed to come back to himself. Blinking, the teenage ghost's mind registered someone gripping his shoulders. Looking around slowly, his eyes rested on Lupin's. Remus gave a nervous smile. "Glad you came back, I was getting worried."

"Huh?" Was his reply.

"Phantom? Are you okay?"

"Uh…"

"Phantom? Phantom, are you alright?" The concern in his voice was evident.

Phantom licked his lips. "D-did you say……h-halfa?" he managed to stutter out.

"Yes…" Remus replied warily, scared that Phantom would relapse. "Do you know the halfa?"

_'Maybe they're after Vlad?'_ His mind reasoned. _'After all, I'm not the only halfa. I'm not the first either.'_ The second halfa ever to exist wanted to find a way to confirm _which_ halfa. There were three if you counted Dani, his clone. "Do you know anything of this halfa? I might know something if you can tell me more." Phantom said, his voice slowly becoming steadier..

Another wave of relief washed over the werewolf. He wasn't sure why he cared for this ghost so much. He felt, deep down, some sort of kinship with the spirit, but…

"All I know is the halfa's powerful. Some people, who are after the halfa, have tracked it here."

_'That doesn't help, Vlad and I both live here…'_ Phantom thought with dismay. "Are you absolutely sure there's nothing else? I can't help you at the moment. Anything else? Anything at all?"

Remus frowned, straining to remember everything Dumbledore had told him that he had heard. "I think…I'm not sure mind you, but I think the only other thing I know is that this halfa defeated someone named the Ghost King. I'm sorry, I don't know anymore."

Phantom's brain went into overdrive. "Th-that…was…m-m-me!" he managed to squeak out before he fell to his knees and went into a silent state of shock once more.

* * *

**A/N:** There you have it. Not including the 600 words the recap took up, this chapter is more than twice the length of the others. I hope this somehow sort of makes up for the long waiting periods I keep putting you guys through. puppy eyes Also, if you're wondering why Danny admitted it was him, he's in shock, give the guy a break! When most people get like that, their mouth tends to act without much guidance from the brain. :)

Remember, the more reviews I get, the more motivated I am. I wrote this entire chapter just today (14/3/08) after getting a late review to the third chapter telling me to update. I know it's much later than that now, but my beta accidentally deleted the copy I sent her and it took her a couple of weeks to get around to emailing me for another.

While I really do appreciate all those who take them time to leave a review, could you please write more than just **"update soon"**?

I still appreciate it, but I'd like a little feedback. While the fact that you want me to update means you like the story, I'd like to know why. Add in which part you liked best, which one least, if you thought something didn't look or sound right…please? I need to know if my writing is improving!

So, to those nice 20 odd people out of roughly nearly 2000 who click on my story and actually review, thankyou! hugs Please keep reviewing!


	5. The Truth of the Matter

**A/N:** Hey, how's it going? Nearly everyone who reviewed commented on the fact that it was Remus who was in Amity last chapter. They all liked that fact, too. That werewolf has a serious fan base! If anyone's wondering why I keep calling him Kingsley instead of Shacklebolt like I do with the others, it's because I like calling him Kingsley more. Oh, just a warning, but there's a lot of talking in this chapter. I'm sorry if that bugs some people, but it's necessary. Enough stalling, the 5th chapter awaits you!

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Disclaimer:** I do declare, bold readers, that I own nothing to do with Danny Phantom and Harry Potter. I own a DP poster and all seven HP books, but nothing resembling any sort of copyrights over them.

**Danny will be referred to as Phantom whenever he is in ghost mode (by those who don't know he's Danny or if someone who doesn't know is around) from now on.**

**Recap:**

"Phantom? Phantom, are you alright?" The concern in his voice was evident.

Phantom licked his lips. "D-did you say……h-halfa?" he managed to stutter out.

"Yes…" Remus replied warily, scared that Phantom would relapse. "Do you know the halfa?"

_'Maybe they're after Vlad?'_ His mind reasoned. _'After all, I'm not the only halfa. I'm not the first either.'_ The second halfa ever to exist wanted to find a way to confirm _which_ halfa. There were three if you counted Dani, his clone. "Do you know anything of this halfa? I might know something if you can tell me more." Phantom said, his voice slowly becoming steadier..

Another wave of relief washed over the werewolf. He wasn't sure why he cared for this ghost so much. He felt, deep down, some sort of kinship with the spirit, but…

"All I know is the halfa's powerful. Some people, who are after the halfa, have tracked it here."

_'That doesn't help, Vlad and I both live here…'_ Phantom thought with dismay. "Are you absolutely sure there's nothing else? I can't help you at the moment. Anything else? Anything at all?"

Remus frowned, straining to remember everything Dumbledore had told him that he had heard. "I think…I'm not sure mind you, but I think the only other thing I know is that this halfa defeated someone named the Ghost King. I'm sorry, I don't know anymore."

Phantom's brain went into overdrive. "Th-that…was…m-m-me!" he managed to squeak out before he fell to his knees and went into a silent state of shock once more.

* * *

**Chapter 5: The Truth of the Matter**

Umbridge was slumped in her chair, elbows resting on her desk. The small woman had been thinking hard ever since she gave the Aurors their orders to find the 'halfa'. She felt a bit silly for sending four of the best half-way across the world. They had departed for this 'Amity Park' place a little over an hour ago, after informing her they had a lead of course. They were going to take a plane to minimise risk of exposure to the muggles.

'_What if it was just meaningless gossip? What if they were talking about a muggle novel they'd heard of?'_

Over and over these questions, and many like them, swam around in her head. She had been so mad that Potter had escaped punishment that she had willingly lashed out at the most available thing.

Many people in the wizarding world know of her exploits concerning half-breeds. Umbridge had tried to round up and tag merpeople once. She loathed creatures like centaurs and werewolves. So, naturally, when she heard of something called a 'halfa' of all things, she was instantly curious.

'_Is it a new kind of half-breed?'_ she had asked herself. Being unable to bring any other creature under her power, she had gleefully pounced at this opportunity. _'If this 'halfa' is indeed a new type of creature, I might be able to have it solely under __my__ control! I just have to get it before someone else does and make it an offer that it will have no chance of refusing. IF it even speaks!'_ she thought with a sneer. If you weren't fully human, you were not worthy of anything in Umbridge's eyes.

Dolores Umbridge was still determined to take down Potter. Unfortunately for her, she was fresh out of ideas. _'I can't send anything after him while the brat's at Hogwarts,'_ she thought with dismay. _'I'll have to catch him doing something himself. I need to watch him, but how?'_ At another dead end, the woman gave a snarl and pouted. _'I guess I'll just have to wait. I'll figure something out.'_

If you had peeked through her door at that moment, you would have instantly backed away at the twisted expression on her face.

* * *

Silence.

A long awkward silence that most people hate.

Remus was silent because his mind was churning at this latest news.

Phantom was silent because anything higher than basic brain function was eluding him.

The werewolf had gone over many possible scenarios concerning the 'halfa', but never had he thought it would be like this. _'I've found him already! I thought I'd have to stay here for at least a few weeks before I even got a proper lead!' _He finally came back to reality as he stared at the mysterious entity he had been sent to find. _'This is a halfa? I thought those kids just called him a ghost? Do they even know?'_ He shook his head in amazement._ 'Phantom doesn't look all that powerful to me…What sort of power did Albus mean anyway?'_ He frowned as he realised the state his guest was in.

"Phantom? Can you hear me? Damn, not again!" Remus cursed to himself. He once again grabbed the teen by the shoulders and shook, a little harder than before. "Phantom!" he all but shouted.

No response.

Remus, nearly beside himself at this point, was contemplating whether or not to use magic. _'Was this kid a muggle when he was alive? Maybe he's solid and colourful because of his power…or maybe just because he's a halfa? Whatever that is…'_ His brow crinkled as he thought. _'Maybe it's best if I don't just in case he is…or was, a muggle. The last thing the Order needs right now is for me to end up in Azkaban for breaking the Statute of Secrecy!'_

Mind made up, Remus continued to call the half-ghost's name. "Phantom! Hello? Phantom!? Come on, come back to me!"

* * *

_The hero of Amity Park was lost. It was empty space all around. Strange though, he felt like he was surrounded, being hemmed in from all sides. Many colours in various hues was all he could see. He shouted out for anyone, anything, but his voice was whipped away by a strange wind that filled the place._

_Panic._

_Fear._

_Anxiety._

_He felt them pressing in on him like an invisible weight. He wanted to be somewhere, anywhere than this strange place._

"_Huh? Wait, what's that?" he asked the colours and the wind. Neither gave him any sort of answer. Curiosity stole over him like a thief and he glided towards a pinpoint of bright white light. He heard a desperate howl, like a wolf that had been cruelly separated from it's pack._

_The howl was accompanied by a blast of wind that hit him full in the face. It carried with it such a deep sense of loss that Danny felt compelled to find and stick with whatever had made it. Following this odd urge, Danny flew into the wind._

Phantom felt dizzy as the world slowly slid back into focus. His ears, no longer filled with the sound of wind and howling, caught something else.

"-ack to me!"

* * *

"I don't mean to sound rude, but what's this all about?"

"Ah, yes. Thankyou, Molly," Albus said, his eyes bright. "I have recently heard some rather interesting news concerning something called a halfa."

Some muttering around the table ensued. Various murmurings of the name and questioning gazes were thrown back and forth.

Sirius, being impatient with Albus already, snapped his head towards the old man. "What's a halfa?"

"I, unfortunately, have no idea."

Sirius sent a small glare at the Headmaster while the others began muttering again.

"What do you mean 'no idea'?" asked Arthur, a look of bewilderment on his face.

"What I mean is, I don't have enough information on it to know exactly that," said Albus. "I only know vague details from rumours and other bits of gossip. I have sent Remus to the place it was found, supposedly if it IS the halfa that was located, and told him to find the halfa and learn all he could. Now we simply wait until Remus contacts us. If Tonks or Kingsley find it, they will send word as well."

More wild mumbles flew through the air.

* * *

Outside the kitchen, more hushed talk was taking place. The door had not been placed under any spell, so the twins had quickly used the Extendable Ears after the all clear signal.

All of the eavesdroppers had gathered in the room Harry and Ron shared to discuss what they had heard.

"So that was the news? Dumbledore heard some gossip about this thingy called a 'halfa' or whatever and got curious? That's it?"

"Yes, dear twin of mine," George snorted, "you seem to have summed it up nicely there."

Ginny tilted her head to one side, looking like a confused puppy. "It does sound interesting and I'm curious about it myself now, but what if it's false?"

"What if what's false?" Ron said, raising a brow at his only sister.

"I think she means if it actually is just meaningless gossip, right?" added Hermione, glancing at Ginny for silent confirmation.

The young redhead nodded. "Exactly."

Hermione smiled while Harry shifted uncomfortably on his bed. Unable to think of a reason by himself, he addressed the others.

"But that doesn't add up!" he said, a frown on his face. "Wouldn't Dumbledore know if it was just gossip?"

"I don't think I follow you mate," Ron said with a frown of his own.

Harry sighed. "When Dumbledore is interested in something and gets involved, it's always important or big or…something! You know what I mean?"

"I think I get what you're saying…" trailed George. "That he may be a bit mad -"

"- eccentric to the point of amusement -"

"- and all that, but -"

"- when it comes down to it,"

"- he's usually right." Both twins finished simultaneously. Harry and Hermione, not being as used to the twins odd sharing of speech as the other two Weasleys in the room, took a moment to themselves.

"Er," he blinked, "yeah, that's what I was getting at…" he said, nodding slightly to the room in general.

Ron mouthed a small 'oh' in comprehension.

"Okay," Ginny said, breaking the small silence that had sprung up, "so he's likely onto something with this halfa. That still doesn't explain _why_ he's so concerned with finding it. Any ideas?"

"The most likely reason is to get it to join the Order," said Hermione immediately. The others made signs of agreement to this.

"Do you think You-Know-Who has heard of it, too? He might want to recruit it himself!" Ron exclaimed, shuddering at the thought.

"He might have," Harry said seriously, his eyes narrowing. "There's no way to tell if that's the case though…"

Ginny sighed. "Guess we'll have to wait for Lupin, Tonks or Kingsley to send word."

They all nodded. Fred and George apparated to their own room to work on their latest product, on the promise to be informed of any ideas or news, leaving the others to talk more.

* * *

The young halfa blinked, dispelling the blurry edges that had crept into his vision.

Remus saw the slight action and took it as a good sign. "Phantom?" he asked, half-expecting a reaction now.

Phantom blinked again and once more found his shoulders being gripped and a face peering inquisitively into his. He stared back questioningly.

Remus felt relief flood his being. _'He hasn't said anything, but I know his mind is there now.'_

It must have showed on his face, because Phantom asked, "Are you okay?"

The werewolf internally chuckled at the irony. "Am I okay? _I'm_ fine. It's _YOU_ I'm worried about."

Phantom cocked his head to the side. "Huh?"

Remus shook his head in disbelief. "After you said it was you that beat the Ghost King you kind of collapsed on me. You didn't faint or anything, but your mind wasn't there anymore. You had this horrible blank look in your eyes, like your mind couldn't cope and was far away." Here Remus paused, removed his hands from their grip, and hung his head in slight embarrassment. "I was getting really worried when I couldn't snap you out of it…"

"Oh…" the young halfa said softly. He suddenly felt a lot calmer for some reason. "Well, all of me is here now. So, what was my warning?"

The werewolf inwardly wondered at Phantom's complete turn-around, but didn't dwell on it. He had a job to do. Before he could start though, he was interrupted.

"Those people you mentioned aren't after me as well are they?"

"Uh, no…" he replied, to which Phantom felt a little better. "It's not the same group of people, but you _do_ have someone after you. She has quite a bit of influence where I come from and has sent a group of trained professionals after you. She wants them to capture you and take you back to her. I cannot tell you why though, because I don't know myself."

Phantom took a few seconds for his mind to digest this. "Trained professionals? You aren't talking about the Guys in White are you? Or any of the other hunters that came after me ages ago?"

"Guys in White? Never heard of them. No, these people aren't trained to take on ghosts. They're more of a special law enforcement squad, trained to deal with highly dangerous criminals and creatures."

Phantom frowned. "But I'm not a criminal or a creature! So why does this lady want to send this squad after me then?"

Remus sighed to himself. "They are under her command and she isn't the one who pays them, so it's just more convenient for her to use them I guess."

"Makes sense to me. How will I know who they are? I mean, from what you said, it sounds like they're gonna come here. Do they know I'm here?" the poor teenager was getting kind of close to rambling all these questions.

Remus heard a note of anxiousness in Phantom's voice and didn't blame him. _'If that was me that had a group of trained professionals on my tail, I'd be nervous also. The fact that the reason for the capture is unknown only makes the whole situation worse.'_ He gave the halfa a reassuring smile.

"So they don't know?" Phantom asked eagerly.

"Sad to say, but they have tracked your odd spectral signature to this general area. The fact that this is the place that Wulf was spotted was just a lucky coincidence for me." He hated to be the bearer of bad news to this young looking spectre and it showed on his face.

Phantom's eagerness slowly leaked away to be replaced by dull acceptance. "Can't be helped then. I vaguely remember you saying they'd tracked me to here, but I was only half listening," he said sheepishly. "But you still haven't told me how I'd know who they were." He raised an eyebrow at the adult sitting across from him on the floor. "Do you know who they are or what they look like?"

Remus grinned at this. "Finally I can tell you some good news! You see, I'm with…an organisation of sorts. I can't tell you it's name, but we are working for, not to sound clichéd, the good of the people. Before I tell you more, you must promise me that whatever I tell you will stay between us. Danny, Sam and Tucker seem like good kids, but you can't let them know. They'd be in danger and that's the last thing that either of us want I'm guessing?"

Phantom's eyes grew wide. "Is it really that bad?"

"I'm afraid so," Remus sighed, nodding gravely. "Will you give me your word?"

"Huh? Oh yeah! Yes, I promise that nothing discussed between us will leave my lips. Unless, of course, I'm talking to you," he added with a cheeky grin.

"Good!" Remus grinned back. "As I was saying, she will be sending four people after you. Two of those four are members of the organisation. They are working at the place the lady who wants you, Dolores Umbridge is her name, works. They're…sort of like secret agents, you could say." He gave a low chuckle. "These two will act as the others, but it's so they don't become suspicious. We'd rather that they didn't catch you, but if they do, remember that our two members will help you in any way they can. If you come into contact with them, act like you don't know anything. I won't be able to tell you much about their looks as they will definitely be disguised in some way. Try to stick close to me if you can, just remain out of sight. I should be able to identify them, so if you stay with me you'll be a lot safer. Sound good to you?"

Phantom's expression was that of awe. "Wow, that's a lot to take in…But don't worry about my safety. I have a wonderful hiding technique, you see. I'll come here when I can though."

"Good enough. Oh, I've been meaning to ask you something…"

"You have? Well, ask away. I'm all ears!" he said with a laugh.

"Alright then," agreed the werewolf. "Ever since I heard the term 'halfa' I've been most curious as to what a halfa actually is. Seeing as you are the halfa, could you enlighten me?"

Aforementioned halfa was fidgeting at this. _'What should I say? I've never really had to explain this to someone before…If I tell him I'm half human he might connect the dots, he seems pretty sharp. I suppose the only reason he hasn't figured it out yet is because the whole idea of a half-ghost is virtually impossible! Still, he came all the way here to warn me and Wulf of these threats…I feel like I can trust him, but what if I'm wrong?'_ He suddenly stared right into Remus' eyes, seeming to search for something. He must've found it because he gave a small nod. _'I can trust him. I'll get him to promise not to tell anyone else though. I'm not ready for that yet.'_

Remus, for his part, was rather befuddled at this. Phantom seemed apprehensive about explaining it to him. He was about to say that it didn't matter, to make the teen feel better, when Phantom's eyes had snapped up to stare right into his. Remus knew it wasn't Occlumency as he had experienced that before, but it was more like his very soul was being searched. It was an all-around odd feeling, but not unpleasant in any way. He saw Phantom give a small nod and a slight surge of excitement rushed through him.

"Okay, but only if what _I_ say, _you_ don't repeat to anyone. Promise?"

The werewolf saw a strange glint in the halfa's eyes and immediately agreed. "Okay, but if withholding this knowledge puts someone in danger, I will tell the Order. Is that agreeable?"

"The Order? Is that the name of your organisation?" He received a nod in reply. "Agreed. If someone's life is in danger, you can tell whoever the knowledge will help most. Except any bad guys, mind you."

"Deal."

"Alright, here goes. Because I'm telling you this, I'll have to tell Sam and Tucker about this lady and her squad. Sure it might put them in danger, but they'll be a lot safer if I tell them after this."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Just Sam and Tucker? What about Danny?" he suddenly broke off and stared at his guest intently. Looking closely, he wondered how he had missed it. "Wait…" He flashed a mischievous grin at Phantom. "So, I'm guessing 'halfa' is the term for a half-human, half-ghost? Am I close…Danny?"

A small blush of embarrassment spread across Danny's face as he closed his eyes. As easy as flicking a light-switch, he let control of his ghost-half go as he reverted back to human. "And I didn't even start explaining!" he said with a nervous huff.

Remus just looked on in amazement. "Wow…I'm not even sure how that's possible! But, in light of this, you're right. It'll be safer to tell your friends." His gaze turned serious. "Although now I expect you _and_ your friends to come here as often as you can. We can use the cover of you three just trying to help me settle in."

Danny blinked. "Wait, that's it? You accept it just like that? Don't you think I'm a freak of nature or something?"

Remus blinked back. "What? Do you want me to or something? Personally I just see you as a teenager with a rather special talent."

Danny let out a breath he hadn't even been aware he'd been holding. "Oh…wow. Thanks, you have no idea how much that means to me." His whole demeanour practically shouted gratitude to the werewolf.

"Do your parents know? I mean, they ARE ghost hunters." He watched Danny shake his head. "Curious. I won't pry into that any further as I can tell it's a touchy subject."

"Thanks…I just haven't figured out a way to break it to them yet. That's all."

Remus nodded in understanding. "I have to report whatever I find out about the halfa to the Order." He gave Danny a reassuring pat on the shoulder after seeing the panicked, betrayed look the teen had shot him. "Don't worry. Whichever you're most comfortable with, I can simply tell them that a halfa is half-human, half-ghost, or I can say it's a very special type of spectral entity. I'm not lying either way, but I'll leave it up to you."

Danny calmed down at that. "Can we go with the second one? The less people know, the better I'll feel."

"Sure. If they want details, I'll see how far I can go without revealing your secret."

"Thanks. Again."

Remus smiled. His expression turned thoughtful for a moment, before he seemed to reach a decision. "Well, I hope we can be friends now."

"Sure!" Danny announced.

"Thankyou, Danny. As a sign of friendship and trust, I'm going to tell you one of my secrets. I can't tell you anything about the Order, but I'll tell you this if you, Sam and Tucker keep it to yourselves."

"You mean I can tell them?" Danny interrupted.

"Yes," he said, sighing in amusement. "You see, I can understand the fact that you're half-ghost a lot better than most, because I'm not entirely human myself."

"You're not?" Danny asked, intrigued by this.

"No, I'm not."

"Well," the teen started, trying to word what he wanted to say properly. "I trust you. Whatever it is, I really doubt it will affect my view of you."

Remus was stunned by the words. He really hoped Danny meant that. "I'll hold you to that, Danny. You see, I'm a lycanthrope."

Danny blinked stupidly. "A lycan - what? What's that?"

"You don't know?" Danny shook his head. "Well…I'm a…werewolf." He awaited the halfa's reaction, hoping it wouldn't be negative.

* * *

In a city a couple of hours away, four people tiredly booked into a hotel. They had only gotten out of the airport about half an hour ago.

There had been a delay at customs due to a man who had been trying to smuggle illegal drugs through. Customs had caught him though, as well as his two friends. The police had been called in as they had tried to make a break for it. In their mad dash, the three had knocked over many things, including two luggage carts. The airport staff had temporarily closed off the exits during this and had asked everybody to wait a little longer as they manually sorted through all the luggage that had been scattered all over the floor. It had taken somewhere between two and three hours before everything had been sorted and they had let everyone out.

After the four slept through the few hours of night left, they would call a taxi to take them to the place had they had found the odd signature.

* * *

Sam Manson was edgy. _'Sure that Lupin guy seems nice, but what if he was just acting? What if Danny's in trouble right now? I can't just bust out of here, run there and break down the guy's door! I'm never gonna get to sleep at this rate…'_

Many thoughts and scenarios featuring Danny's meeting with Remus had been swimming around her head ever since she had said goodbye to him. Worry for her best friend was definitely getting the better of the young gothic girl. She picked up her phone and dialled Tucker.

After quite a few rings, the disgruntled, sleepy voice of her other best friend groggily answered the phone.

"Hey Tuck, it's just me. I'm sorry if I woke you up, but I really need to talk to you."

"_Sam? It's almost three in the morning! Is something wrong?"_ he said, sounding angry and concerned in turn.

"Not really, I'm just worried about Danny…What if that guy really is trying to trap him? I feel so useless at the moment!" she almost shouted.

"_Whoa, calm down Sam! I'm sure Danny's fine. He can look after himself ya know, he DOES have ghost powers. We'll call him first thing tomorrow or just go over. I'm sure the only bad thing is that Danny's probably missed a lot of sleep, that's all," _Tucker said soothingly. _"And I'm guessing you have too. Go to sleep Sam, you won't be able to do much tomorrow if you're too tired. If anything's happened to Danny, we'd have heard about it in some way. All we can do is wait for tomorrow and see for ourselves. Just remember, he's not helpless. Relax and go to sleep!"_

Sam sighed in resignation. "Yeah, you're right. I'll find out in a few hours, I suppose. I'll try to sleep, it'll make the time seem to pass quicker if nothing else. Thanks, Tuck. Goodnight."

"_Night, Sam. Well, morning, but y'know…Bye."_

"Bye," she said, hanging up. Thinking through what he had said, she had to admit he had a point. _'He's right, Danny's not helpless. Not by a long shot.'_

With that comforting thought, Sam laid back down on her bed. Within seconds she was asleep, the loss of it up to that point having finally caught up to her.

* * *

"A werewolf? I mean, I know ghosts are real…but werewolves?" Danny said hesitantly.

"Well, to be fair, werewolves are not widely acknowledged like ghosts. You usually see them only in the movies, portrayed as mythical creatures that are just imaginary or only lived many years ago. But I can assure you I am very real and I am being very serious."

"So you're not joking? Well, I'd ask you to prove it, but werewolves only come out on the full moon. Uh, right?"

Remus felt a bit better. Danny had not done anything to reject him so far. "Well, werewolves can go anywhere, anytime, just like everyone else. We just turn wolfish during the full moon. Don't worry, I have something that stops me from acting on the instincts and lets me keep my mind human during that time. I'm proud to say I've never bitten anyone."

The young town hero simply nodded. "So you actually go all furry with claws and fangs and you can howl?"

"Yes. You are taking this much better than I had hoped. Do you think _I'm_ a freak of nature?"

Danny smiled at the irony. "No. I get why you said you understood so well now."

"Indeed!" Remus laughed. "My friends used to call me Moony because of it. If you want, you, Sam and Tucker can use that nickname."

"Moony? Ha-ha, cool. I like it," the halfa said, grinning at the werewolf. "So Moony, you want to know what my view of you is now?"

Remus gave a brief grin that Danny had used his nickname. "Go ahead."

Danny needed no more invitation than that. "Well, I was right. You're still the same guy to me, you just have your own special talent."

They both shared a laugh at that. After a few more minutes in which Danny promised to come back during the day with his friends, he went ghost, amusing Remus with his battle cry, and flew across the block intangible and invisible to slip into his room. They both had a lot to think about.

* * *

**A/N: **Ouch, longer than the last. I finished this much quicker than usual, but due to a mix-up with my beta, it's about two months later than I would've liked to post it...Sorry about that! Thanks again to **Em Phantom** for being my beta!

So much talking…it's 1:15 AM right now and I've finally finished this chapter! My left shoulder is absolutely killing me!

Thanks again to all my wonderful reviewers! You know who you are because I reply to each and every review personally. (Except anonymous ones that leave no address) Eats up more time, but I figure if you guys can take the time to read my little fic and review, then I can certainly take some time to thank you individually. Thankyou! -huggles-

Oh, if you get the whole scene where Danny was 'lost' with all the colours and wind then I'll make sure you get a very special mention next chapter. Good luck!

Sooo…let me know what you think of this chapter! Was it good, bad? Is my writing improving? Got a tip or something for me? Remember, I like constructive criticism. Flames are not appreciated in the slightest.

Want more of the story? Review!

- FantomoDrako


	6. Crouching Cat, Hidden Wolf

**A/N:** Hello, hello! Only about four of you mentioned the 'lost' scene. Out of all those who reviewed, only three guessed. One was on the right track, but not quite. The other said 'Pocahontas'. The third said 'sensory overdrive of sensing essences.' Very nice guess! I really like that.

Danny did not enter Lupin's mind, he was in his own. The colours represented all of his emotions spinning around. His thoughts were whirling around too, that's what the wind was. The howl is how Danny's mind perceived Lupin's words. The mind is a wonderful thing, but when it goes bye-bye like that, it functions on basic needs and primal instincts. So, therefore, the werewolf's words became an instinctual wolf's cry to Danny's taxed mind. Are any of you going, "Oh, I get it now!"? Just curious. J Anyway, from this point on, there will be less explanations and more action! Yay! Enjoy the sixth chapter!

**Disclaimer:** Yay, my birthday was on the sixth of June! Sadly, though, no one gave me the rights to Danny Phantom OR Harry Potter as a present. Being 18 doesn't feel all that special…

"Speech"

'_Thoughts__'_

**Danny will be ref erred to as Phantom whenever he is in ghost mode (by those who don't know he's Danny or if someone who doesn't know is around).**

**Recap:**

"Okay," Ginny said, breaking the small silence that had sprung up, "so he's likely onto something with this halfa. That still doesn't explain _why_ he's so concerned with finding it. Any ideas?"

"The most likely reason is to get it to join the Order," said Hermione immediately. The others made signs of agreement to this.

"Do you think You-Know-Who has heard of it, too? He might want to recruit it himself!" Ron exclaimed, shuddering at the thought.

"He might have," Harry said seriously, his eyes narrowing. "There's no way to tell if that's the case though…"

Ginny sighed. "Guess we'll have to wait for Lupin, Tonks or Kingsley to send word."

They all nodded. Fred and George apparated to their own room to work on their latest product, on the promise to be informed of any ideas or news, leaving the others to talk more.

* * *

"Indeed!" Remus laughed. "My friends used to call me Moony because of it. If you want, you, Sam and Tucker can use that nickname."

"Moony? Ha-ha, cool. I like it," the halfa said, grinning at the werewolf. "So Moony, you want to know what my view of you is now?"

Remus gave a brief grin that Danny had used his nickname. "Go ahead."

Danny needed no more invitation than that. "Well, I was right. You're still the same guy to me, you just have your own special talent."

They both shared a laugh at that. After a few more minutes in which Danny promised to come back during the day with his friends, he went ghost, amusing Remus with his battle cry, and flew across the block intangible and invisible to slip into his room. They both had a lot to think about.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Crouching Cat, Hidden Wolf**

Tucker was very tempted to tell Danny about how much Sam was worried for him last night, but he feared Sam's combat boots a bit more at that moment. Plus, he would've made Danny feel guilty for keeping Sam awake even though he didn't actually do anything. He knew Danny would make a big deal out of it. So, in light of this knowledge, he managed to keep anything sarcastic or insinuating from slipping out. _'Besides,'_ he thought. '_Danny looks beat. I wonder how late he stayed up?' _As soon as Danny had opened the door and seen who it was, he began dragging them to Lupin's house.

Sam had no such qualms and was trying to grill Danny for as much information as she could before they reached Lupin's front door. This left room for about one or two of her questions only. She had been very relieved to find Danny safe and sound, if not a bit tired, but she was still unwilling to trust this new guy on the scene completely. "Is this guy secretly working for Vlad? You didn't tell him anything important or revealing, did you?"

"Relax, Sam. I really don't think he's working for Vlad. As for important or revealing…" Danny trailed off, quivering internally at the smouldering lavender eyes that were boring into him. "What I mean is, it just sort of happened! We were just talking and it got really serious and it kinda became necessary for him to know! I didn't exactly _tell_ him, either. He figured it out right before I was about to tell him," he said in a rushed, low voice.

Sam never got the chance to start scolding the poor boy because Lupin had seen them through his window and opened the door as soon as they were close enough. "Ah, right on time. Thanks for helping me unpack, I really appreciate it," he said, winking at them.

Danny caught on immediately. "No prob! Where do you want us to start?" he answered while walking across the threshold.

"What?" Tucker exclaimed while staring at Danny incredulously. "I thought you dragged us here for something important!"

"He did," Remus stated calmly, shutting the door. "That was just a ruse in case anybody was within earshot. Don't worry, you won't be doing any sort of manual labour."

"Sorry about that, Moony. I figured it'd be best to explain here, so I never really told them anything other than the fact that you know I'm half-ghost," Danny said apologetically.

Remus simply grinned at the young halfa and nodded in approval. "Good idea."

"So we're not unpacking boxes?" Tucker asked hopefully. Remus shook his head and Tucker sighed in relief.

"BEWARE!" cried a voice.

"Oh man…" Danny groaned. "Anyone bring a Thermos?"

Sam threw him one and zipped up her backpack. "You really should know to take one with you everywhere by now," she said reprovingly.

"Yeah, yeah…" he replied, rolling his eyes as he caught the ghost-capturing object.

"What are you doing?" Remus asked, watching with interest.

"Just about to take care of a little pest problem," Danny said, giving the werewolf an exasperated look. "Jeez, I don't even have to go ghost for this guy. Hey, Crate Creep!"

The Box Ghost burst out of one of the boxes that lined the hallway a little further down. "I am…THE BOX GHOST!" he shouted, waving his arms for dramatic emphasis. "I am not the Crate Creep! Fear my mighty power and cower before my army of cardboard! This place is filled with many square objects that will spell your doom!" Having said his bit, the Box Ghost gathered his spectral energy and channelled it into a cardboard box close to the baffled, but amused, werewolf. Throwing his arms forward, the Box Ghost sent his projectile straight at the man's head.

Danny, sick of hearing the Box Ghost's ridiculous proclamations, fired off a small ghost-ray from his finger and blew the box back towards the overalls-wearing spectre. "Sure, just like all the other times you predicted my demise by cardboard and square-filled doom," he said sarcastically.

The box hit its target and the ghost let out an exaggerated 'oof!' of surprise and pain. "How dare you turn my beautiful boxes against me! You and your cylindrical container will fall!" Box Ghost yelled in outrage. While he was busy yelling, Danny uncapped the Fenton Thermos and activated it. The Box Ghost was sucked into it's vortex with a last despair-filled cry of, "Noooooo!!"

"So, er…do I even want to know who that was?" Remus asked jokingly.

"As I said, a pest," Danny grumbled.

Remus cleared his throat. "Well, now that that's over…why don't we all sit down?" he said, regaining his composure and ferrying the three teens over to his kitchen table.

Sam was still glaring at Lupin as she sat on one of the old-fashioned chairs. "What's your angle?" she blurted out.

"Angle?" Remus repeated, confused as to what she meant by that.

"What do you really want from Danny?" Sam clarified, getting straight to the point in a very blunt and forward manner.

"Really…want? Your concern for your friend is certainly admirable, but you have nothing to fear from me," the werewolf said, far too used to teenage behaviour. "I came here to help Danny."

Sam sniffed reprovingly, unconvinced.

Danny decided to clear things up before Sam did something rash. _'Funny, it's usually her trying to stop me from doing or saying something stupid…'_ He sighed. "He's right, Sam. He came here to give me a warning."

"Warning?" she asked, curious despite herself. Even Tucker was paying rapt attention.

"Yes," said Remus, butting in. "You see there's someone who would like Danny captured. She's sent a special team after him…"

* * *

After a lengthy explanation, including many inquisitive interruptions from Sam and Tucker, everything that Remus had told Danny last night was now known by the other two.

"So…" Sam started, unsure of where she now stood with Remus.

"So," he parroted back, smiling all the while. "Now all that's left is to inform the Order that I found the halfa. Afterwards, we'll have to wait and see what their response is. Albus Dumbledore, the leader of the Order of the Phoenix, may want to meet you himself. He's a little odd and he loves all things weird and interesting. Since you pretty much fit into both categories, he'll more than likely request a meeting with you."

"How would that work? Isn't this Order of yours in Britain? I know for a fact that Danny can't teleport so if he leaves, people are going to notice," Tucker said, frowning in confusion. Sam and Danny nodded, agreeing with the simple fact.

Remus had to think for a minute. _'It wouldn't take __**that**__ long if we used Floo Powder, after getting permission, so why…?'_ It came to him, then. He had left out one major detail even though he had told them about the Order. _'I never told any of them about magic! They may know I'm a werewolf, but they don't know I'm a wizard!'_ Remus could have smacked himself in the head. Would Albus allow him to tell these three? Would he be allowed to break the Statute of Secrecy to the halfa? "I'm sure we could work out a way. Before we get ahead of ourselves, however, there is one matter that we must address now."

He got a couple of raised eyebrows and a contemplative look as a reply.

"You mean…what you're going to say to your boss?" Danny eventually asked.

Remus nodded. "I think I'll need your help to work out what to say. This is _your_ secret and I don't wish to abuse the knowledge or the trust you've placed in me."

Tucker groaned at this. "English work? But it's the weekend! Why can't we ever catch a break?" he whined, shooting everyone a pleading look.

Remus mentally rolled his eyes at the typical teenage behaviour. He couldn't help but to find some sort of truth behind Tucker's words. It WAS the weekend. "You have a point. Why don't we go for a walk? You three can show me around."

"Well, it's better than working!" Tucker said cheerfully, whipping out his PDA. He had all the nature he needed in his video games.

Sam shook her head in mild disgust and resignation. "Sorry about him," she told Remus while rolling her eyes. "It's really hard to pry his face away from that screen. He doesn't appreciate the true beauty of nature!"

Remus shot her a look of understanding. "So, I'll take that as a yes?"

Sam beamed as Danny nodded. "Sure. I don't feel like walking around the streets though…why don't we go to the park?"

The werewolf nodded his agreement. It wasn't long before all four had vacated the house and set a course for Amity's park.

* * *

"That's the mall. I'd avoid the place unless you want to run into preppy little princesses and overbearing jocks," Sam mentioned, sending the building a scathing glare when she pictured who was in there.

"Ooh, look! That's where you go if you want the latest in technology!" Tucker proudly boasted. He was pointing at a modern-looking store with childish glee.

"Our school's only a few blocks from here. You're lucky you don't have to go there! Mr. Lancer is a real pain, always giving me detention because of my gho- um, I mean, my extra activities!" Danny said with a nervous laugh at the near slip. There were other people around and you never knew who could be eavesdropping.

"Ugh, it's Star…"

"It is? Where? Quick, hide me!"

"Don't expect me to save you from her, Tuck. Saving you from Star is not in my job description."

Tucker sent Danny a betrayed look, full of mock hurt.

"What's the big deal if she sees you?" Remus asked, lost at what was happening.

"She's gone, Tucker," Sam informed him, an expression of utter distaste clearly shown on her face.

"Phew…"

* * *

"Well, here we are!" Danny said. The small group had been walking for roughly twenty minutes and now stood just inside the park's entrance.

"Not bad," Remus commented airily.

"Mrowr!"

The strangled sound caught the small group's attention. Danny was the first to spot a ginger cat, covered in brown stripes, standing a short distance away. It was standing ramrod stiff, back arched; fur bristling, ears back and fangs bared. It hissed violently.

"What's with the crazy cat?" Tucker asked, having put away his PDA during the walk.

Remus frowned. He had a hunch about the feline, but he wanted to make sure he was right. He took a step forward, watching the agitated feline carefully.

It hissed again, taking a step back. Its eyes remained fixated upon Remus Lupin. As he took another step, the cat decided that that was close enough. It hissed once more before it suddenly bolted; scaling the nearest tree and climbing as high into the branches as its weight would allow. It stayed there, ears still flat, glaring balefully down.

Remus sighed in reluctance.

"What was that about?" the young gothic girl asked, her suspicions slowly creeping back into her mind.

"Some animals like that can sense…the truth within," he cautiously explained. Lowering his voice, he continued. "That 'crazy cat' is not crazy at all. It senses me as a predator because I'm a werewolf."

Tucker just mouthed 'oh' as Sam put forward another question. "Are we just gonna leave the poor thing up there?"

"I cannot get near it," Remus stated.

"Uh-uh, no WAY you're making ME climb up a tree to rescue a psychotic animal! You remember what happened _last time_ I climbed a tree and came into contact with an animal up there, don't you, Sam? I had both hands bandaged for a week!" Tucker cried out, outraged and fearful.

Danny rolled his eyes at his African-American friend's outburst. "Never mind, I'll do it."

"But Danny, you're not exactly the pinnacle of physical fitness. Besides, no-one could climb high enough to reach it without snapping one of the branches," Sam said, instantly shooting down Danny's proposal.

"Danny _Fenton_ can't. But, who said anything about Fenton going up there? Danny _Phantom_ can rescue that cat without even touching the tree!" he replied, puffing out his chest in pride at his solution.

"Oh, hey, great idea!" chirped Tucker, his earlier mood instantly restored.

"Well, there's not many people around. Go behind the tree so no-one sees you, just in case!" Sam cautioned her half-ghost friend. She had been extra wary ever since Remus had appeared.

Danny nodded, grinning widely the entire time. Inconspicuously edging away from the others, he walked behind the tree the cat had taken refuge in as if he didn't have a care in the world. Going around the decently sized trunk, he stopped and surveyed all within eyesight. There was not another person to be seen. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, in case someone suddenly came around a corner or something, he let his ghostly powers flow through him. His battle cry might have given him away, so he had decided to forego it. Defying gravity, as ghosts do, he slowly rose to where the cat was; not wanting to agitate it further. "Hey there, kitty. Be a good cat," he cajoled, extending his hands to grab the feline. It swiped at his hand, scoring a hit and leaving four parallel scratches behind. It had torn right through the material. Danny winced at the sudden sting. His hands shot out before the cat could try again and closed firmly around its stomach. Detaching it from the branch it had partially sunk its claws into, Danny quickly flew a short distance away. Judging to be far enough away from Moony, he placed the cat on the ground.

"Rioaw!" the fluffy, clawed, not-as-innocent-as-it-appeared animal cried as it scampered off.

Danny let go of his ghost half and walked back to the others, frowning at the few drops of blood trailing down his hand. It was bleeding red now, but a few crusted drops showed bright green against his pale skin. "It's gone. I put it down and it ran off."

"Danny, you're bleeding!" Sam said, walking over and inspecting his hand. "That cat got you pretty good. A bandaid isn't gonna cover that."

"Let's go back to my place, I can fix up your hand," Remus offered. He had made sure to pack a first aid kit among his things. _'Glad I did! You never know when someone's going to need them,'_ he reflected.

Danny gave an exaggerated sigh. "Jeez, it's just a couple of little scratches! I'll be perfectly fine without medical treatment. People get scratched by cats everyday!" Their concern made him happy, and he felt bad for turning it down. If he let them coddle him like that, however, they'd only get worse.

"But…No, you're right. Just don't let them get infected," Sam warned him, pinning him with a glare as though daring him to object. He gladly obliged by her wishes, knowing it would end the issue. "Good."

* * *

"We've been wandering around aimlessly all day!" Dawlish complained to his partner.

"Well, isn't that what we were _ordered_ to do?" Tonks irritably snapped, placing particular stress on that one word. Needless to say, Tonks was not in a very chummy mood. She didn't like Dawlish, but their 'leader' had said to split up into pairs to cover more ground. Tonks personally thought that Tebbes was out to get her somehow.

"Don't you think we should have come across something…_magical…_ by now?" he said, lowering his voice but keeping his eyes focused straight ahead. "The Muggles say that this is the most haunted place around. Multiple ghost sightings have been reported. Not only that, but it's been all over the Muggle media. I've even heard that the entire town was once pulled into some kind of location distortion! I know even Muggles never go that far with 'supernatural' things that they think they find!"

Tonks had to admit that he brought up a valid point. _'Location distortion? What, in the name of magic, does he mean by that?'_ The question would not stop nagging at the back of the Metamorphmagus' mind, so she asked.

Dawlish rolled his eyes at his partner. "The details were a little sketchy, composed rather haphazardly if you ask me…but I suppose my personal opinion is of no interest to you. Basically, the reports said that the town had been 'sucked into the ghost realm'. Whatever the hell they think THAT is…" he finished, murmuring more to himself than Tonks and using air quotes to emphasize the statement.

"Ghost realm?" she echoed dumbly. "There IS no ghostly realm, they exist on our plane!"

Dawlish bit back a scathing retort. It would not help them accomplish their mission and would only cause more friction, resulting in increasingly nasty arguments. "Ignoring those ridiculous Muggle media rumours, we should only act upon what we see with our own two eyes," he settled for saying instead.

"Yeah," Tonks agreed unenthusiastically.

After lapsing into silence, the two continued searching.

* * *

Kingsley Shacklebolt was a level-headed man. He took pride in the fact that it took a lot to unnerve him. That ability, and his pride in it, had flown out the window in the face of the situation he currently found himself in.

It had started barely more than two minutes earlier when a small, green, glowing creature, vaguely resembling a mutated squirrel of some sort, had shot beneath his legs. It was plain that it was running from something. Kingsley had found out what it was running from several seconds later. A strange, echoing voice had caught him off guard when it announced, "No prey ever escapes Skulker, Ghost Zone's greatest hunter!" While spending precious moments trying to digest this, a glowing net had come flying out of seemingly nowhere and neatly ensnared him.

This led back to where he was now; trussed up in a glowing net with Tebbes and wondering what on Earth had just transpired.

Tebbes himself was having just as much trouble. He blinked at Kingsley to help find a way to compose himself. "Merlin's beard! What _WAS_ that!?" he managed to splutter.

"I…haven't the faintest idea…" replied Kingsley uncertainly. "It resembled something I remember the Muggles calling 'robot'. But…it was glowing?" he said awkwardly.

"I don't care if it was a flobberworm on a picnic making daisy chains with Merlin himself! We need to get out of this net and follow it!" Tebbes instantly snarled back, already over his shock.

Kingsley swiftly followed suit. "You're right. But how? There are too many Muggles around to try and pull off a spell without them noticing…" he murmured, glancing around. Many people had stopped whatever they were doing when the ghosts had rushed past and were now staring at the two trapped wizards as though contemplating whether or not to get involved by helping.

"Can you find the edge of the net?" Tebbes inquired as patiently as he could. This was, in fact, not patiently at all.

"Yeah, it's right near my ankle. Hang on; I'll see if I can undo this tie that seems to be holding it together…"

* * *

"Okay, Danny. I'll write the start and you can help me word it after that. Is that fine by you?"

Danny simply nodded, not sure what to say and silently going over things in his head. They were back in Lupin's new house, once again sitting at the kitchen table.

Remus understood why Danny was quiet for the moment, and so, he got started on the letter he was going to send. He couldn't use the Floo Network as it was being monitored and sending an owl, provided he managed to get his hands on one, would take far too long. Albus had, of course, foreseen this problem. His solution was fairly simple and straightforward, yet quite brilliant. Every three days he would send Fawkes. Since Fawkes was a phoenix and could teleport with a flash of fire, it would solve both the time and communication problems. Fawkes was due sometime tonight. This was the reason that Remus wanted to get the letter done today.

Starting the letter was easy. Remus simply wrote that he had found the target and was awaiting further instructions based upon any decision made after the Order read his report. "Right, I'm done. Do you know what you want me to write in my report?" he asked, turning his eyes to Danny.

"Yeah, yeah, I think I got something. I, uh, think it might need some larger words in it, though…" he chuckled, his right hand at the back of his neck in a gesture of embarrassment.

Remus just laughed along good-naturedly. "Sure, we can write your part as a draft first and edit it until we're satisfied before we write it in the actual letter." He didn't want to write too much just in case the owl was intercepted, so he was hoping to keep the information simple and minimal.

"Yeah, that sounds good. Okay, here's what I've got…"

The faint sound of a pen scratching away was all that could be heard amid low voices.

* * *

"Aren't you done yet?"

"Almost…there…just a little…Aha! Got it!" Kingsley let loose a relieved sigh coupled with a triumphant grin at his accomplishment. It had taken a minute or so, and lots of patience, but he had succeeded in getting the net tie undone. Carefully keeping the net edges grasped in his fingers, he lifted it over his head and spun around. With his fingers still wrapped in the net, he walked forward with his arms held high so the net passed over his partner's head and body.

Tebbes immediately stood and stretched, glad to be out of his awkward position as his right leg had uncomfortable pins and needles running all through it. He had been forced to sit on it and now winced slightly as the feeling returned. Trying hard not to limp, he headed off in the direction that the ghosts went as quickly as he could. He did not look back, confident that Shacklebolt would follow.

"They could've gone anywhere from here, how will we follow them now?" Kingsley asked in a huff after the two came to an intersection that branched three ways besides the direction they came.

"Why do you keep asking me? You've got a brain, don't you? Use it! As if I know, I'm not psychic!" Tebbes bit back, a deep scowling frown adorning his face. Kingsley turned away, knowing that his anger would get the better of him if he looked at Tebbes.

"Well then, why don't we use a simple finding spell?" he said through gritted teeth.

Rift Tebbes had to fight down the sudden urge to bang his head against something. _'Of course! How could I have forgotten something so obvious?'_ While he was silently reprimanding himself, he cast his gaze around for a spot well away from any prying Muggle eyes. He found a likely spot after a few seconds and pointed it out to Kingsley. Both of them walked towards the spot as quick as they could without arousing suspicion.

After performing the spell, the two had set off in the direction Tebbes' wand had indicated, eyes and ears open for any glowing entities.

* * *

Harry and Ron were sitting on the floor of their room, taking advantage of the fact that they were not cleaning at the moment.

"I wonder if we'll get to meet it if they manage to bring it back here to the Order. What do you think, Harry?" Ron asked after moving his bishop.

Harry swept his gaze over the game board, trying to find a way out of the corner Ron seemed to be backing him into. "Dunno," he absently replied. He tentatively moved one of his pawns. "It all depends on if Dumbledore really does want to bring it here. If he does, I'm pretty sure we'll meet it. It'll have to stay here, most likely, so it'd be unavoidable."

It took Ron a couple of moves before he answered. "Yeah, you have a point there, mate. Check," Ron said, smirking triumphantly.

"Damn it!"

"Give it up, Harry. You'll never beat me at chess!" Ron said, chuckling and gesturing dramatically.

"I will, I swear I will, one day!"

"Yeah, one day in the very distant future!"

Harry shot his freckled friend a defiant, determined glare. "Again!"

"Okay, if you're sure…" Ron sighed. "Prepare to lose for the sixth time in a row!"

"You should prepare to have that streak broken!"

The two grinned at each other and set up the board again.

* * *

It was nearing eleven at night. Remus was in his new bedroom, trying to ignore the fine layer of dust that had accumulated and settled onto everything but the bed he was sitting on. Danny, Sam and Tucker had left a bit before six, to make it home in time for tea. They had eventually finished editing the draft and Remus had re-written everything onto a piece of parchment with a quill after the three teens had left. Now, he was simply waiting for Fawkes to come.

Time always seems to pass very slowly when you're not doing anything. Each second felt like a minute to the werewolf, and each minute felt like an hour. He sat patiently, despite everything. As the Hogwarts students had learned two years prior, Remus Lupin was an incredibly patient man.

Finally, after twenty-three minutes that felt like an eternity, a small, bright flash of fire lit up the room, briefly illuminating the blinds drawn shut against the window. Fawkes, in all his red and gold plumed glory, landed lightly on the bed facing Remus. He looked at the man inquisitively, waiting for him to speak.

"Hello, Fawkes. I have wonderful news for you to take back. Here you are," he said, smiling kindly at the rare bird. He held out the magically sealed roll of parchment and Fawkes gently took it in his beak. Giving the ex-professor a farewell nod, Fawkes disappeared with another flash.

The phoenix was to deliver it to Albus who would then decide if a meeting was needed or not. Remus knew that his letter would be enough to call an Order meeting for sure. He had added a couple of things only intended for Dumbledore's eyes. He had gone as far as he dared without breaking his promise to Danny. _'Will he decide to let Danny know of the wizarding world? Considering that he's half-ghost, one would think he would have heard of it at the very least. Though, taking into account how different that Box Ghost is to the others at Hogwarts, it is possible that they are a different type of ghost… Truly fascinating! I'd love to study them, and Danny, and takes notes, make comparisons, compare energy compositions…'_ he brought his runaway thoughts to a screeching halt. "Hmm, seems I'm getting a bit ahead of myself and a little carried away…"

Now began the waiting game. Would Albus agree and bring Danny to Grimmauld Place before Umbridge's Aurors found him? Would they discover what Remus had and capture Danny? Remus did not want to think of what would happen to the boy if Umbridge got her greedy claws on him. He was a half-breed after all, and Remus personally knew how bad her hatred for them was. If, in the event that the Aurors DID catch him, hopefully Tonks and Shacklebolt smuggled him out of there before Umbridge did anything.

* * *

"We're actually allowed to come to this meeting?" Ginny asked in disbelief.

Her mother gave her a scolding stare. "Yes. Dumbledore received word from Remus concerning this 'halfa' thing… He sent us a letter a few minutes ago explaining all about it. He cannot be here for the meeting, but he wrote that all you children are allowed to go to this meeting. He said there's no reason you shouldn't know about this. Come along then!" she huffed, bustling away to fetch the boys.

"Oh, hurry, Ginny! I don't want to miss this!" Hermione exclaimed while anxiously bobbing up and down.

"Like I'm gonna miss this myself? Let's go!"

Both girls hurried down the stairs to the kitchen, mindful of remaining quiet. Once there, they quickly settled themselves into unoccupied chairs around the table and waited for the meeting to start. Barely four minutes later, Mrs. Weasley returned with Fred, George, Ron and Harry in tow.

"Well, now that we're all here, shall we start?" asked Arthur Weasley. He received nods, small noises of affirmation and eager looks. "Very well. Remus Lupin has found the Halfa. I'll read the letter aloud.

_To the Order,_

_Remus has already found the 'halfa'. He sent me a report detailing it a short while earlier. I have copied all the relevant parts into this letter for you. Please allow the children to attend the meeting regarding this matter as they will undoubtedly find it interesting and the knowledge will not hurt them._

"_The term 'halfa' is used to refer to a very special, very rare type of spectral entity. The halfa I have met and befriended has told me that there are only three. Two others besides himself. His name is Phantom. _

_He is just like a ghost and has full sentient awareness, but is quite solid as I accidentally discovered when I went to put my hand on his shoulder and it did not sink through. He told me that he can turn intangible and invisible whenever he wishes. Also quite interesting was the fact that he is not pearly-white and transparent like the ghosts we know. He has snow-white hair, bright green eyes and tanned skin._

_Aside from these interesting differences, the thing I found shocking was the reason why the ghosts said he was 'powerful'. I am not sure how, would love to find out though, but he is able to concentrate his spectral energy and fire it as a beam, much like one of our spells._

_He is quite young also. Phantom is only fourteen and acts just like a typical American teenager. I was with him in a park earlier today and watched him rescue a cat that had climbed too high up a tree to escape from me. The cat managed to scratch his hand before he could grab it. I was fascinated to see that Phantom can bleed. It wasn't red, or silver like that which covers the Bloody Baron, but a vivid green."_

_That is the most relevant information regarding the halfa, now known as Phantom. I am currently working on a way to bring him to Headquarters, as there are a couple of issues that need to be worked out beforehand. It seems that one of the Ministry officials has taken a great interest in Phantom and has sent a team to capture him. Remus and I both agree that Phantom needs protection. Both against the Ministry and any Death Eaters that hear of him. They may report him to Voldemort. With such a power on his side, he could spy, and possibly assassinate, anyone he wished if they did not have the proper protection. _

_Remus has assured me that Phantom wants nothing to do with either the Ministry or Voldemort. However, there is still the concern that he may be bent to another's will. That is why we have decided that Phantom needs protection. When I figure out a workable solution, Phantom will be staying at Grimmauld Place for safety._

_I will contact you about this matter again, via Fawkes, when I have reached a solution._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

That's everything."

A stunned silence filled the kitchen. Of all the things they had been expecting, it wasn't this.

* * *

**A/N:** -Cackles crazily- Were any of you about to pick up torches and pitchforks? I was about ready to beat myself. How long has it been?! But finally… FINALLY! The sixth chapter is done! It is also unbeta-ed... So, sorry if there are any rushed mistakes. i've gone over it so many times that there shouldn't be...

I've been caught up watching Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden… So, yeah…

My net's been cut off. We had a huge, really scary storm here not long back. Each clap of thunder rattled everything in the house! It blew our telephone line, burnt out our filter/splitter and completely fried our modem! We bought a new one right away, but I can't connect it to the net.

So, while I have no internet and therefore cannot watch any Naruto, I've been using Photoshop and writing all I can of my fics. I was writing bits of my fics before, but never gave them my undivided attention because I was watching subtitled anime. -Grins guiltily-

Anyways, you'll know my net's been reconnected when I post this.

Well, that's enough outta my personal life. So…how was the chapter? I know many of you were getting tired of all the talking and no action. Hopefully this chapter makes up for it, as I did say there'd be less talk and more walk. Review and tell me how I did! Pretty please?

Thanks again to all my reviewers, though this thanks is mostly for the anonymous ones that I can't reply to personally.

**To make things a little easier for my readers, I have a new section on my profile where I'll be posting my progress for all my fics. If you wish to know how much of the next chapter I've completed, simply head there and scroll down until you find it.**

A huge thankyou to all of you who are sticking with me through my slow updates!

FantomoDrako


	7. When Curiosity Takes Over

**A/N:** Hello people! It seems that three months is my average for cranking out new chapters for this fic…why is that?

I've been busy over Christmas, (who hasn't?) but I'm not going to use that as an excuse. After all, I started writing this chapter long before Christmas rolled around. As usual, though, please don't expect a quick update. A friend of mine is coming over as soon as she's free and we're going to rearrange my _entire_ bedroom. I already moved one cupboard and it scraped the skin on the inside of my left forearm bare, so I'm not keen on moving more. (It stung like nobodies business! It didn't help that the cupboard's slide down my arm was stopped and held in place by my new watch, either!)

**Please read the 'Remember' note at the bottom.**

Anyway, I hope those of you who have stuck with me faithfully through my slowness (I love you all!) enjoy this latest update!

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Harry Potter and Danny Phantom I wouldn't be writing _fanfics_ about them, now would I? So please don't sue me, I'm very poor and you'll gain no profit as I gain none from the work. Well, only the profit of knowing that some people enjoy reading this. You can't spend that, though, so don't waste your time trying.

"Speech"

'_Thoughts__'_

**Danny will be referred to as Phantom whenever he is in ghost mode (by those who don't know he's Danny or if someone who doesn't know is around).**

**Recap:** "Well, now that we're all here, shall we start?" asked Arthur Weasley. He received nods, small noises of affirmation and eager looks. "Very well. Remus Lupin has found the Halfa. I'll read the letter aloud.

_To the Order,_

_Remus has already found the 'halfa'. He sent me a report detailing it a short while earlier. I have copied all the relevant parts into this letter for you. Please allow the children to attend the meeting regarding this matter as they will undoubtedly find it interesting and the knowledge will not hurt them._

"_The term 'halfa' is used to refer to a very special, very rare type of spectral entity. The halfa I have met and befriended has told me that there are only three. Two others besides himself. His name is Phantom. _

_He is just like a ghost and has full sentient awareness, but is quite solid as I accidentally discovered when I went to put my hand on his shoulder and it did not sink through. He told me that he can turn intangible and invisible whenever he wishes. Also quite interesting was the fact that he is not pearly-white and transparent like the ghosts we know. He has snow-white hair, bright green eyes and tanned skin._

_Aside from these interesting differences, the thing I found shocking was the reason why the ghosts said he was 'powerful'. I am not sure how, would love to find out though, but he is able to concentrate his spectral energy and fire it as a beam, much like one of our spells._

_He is quite young also. Phantom is only fourteen and acts just like a typical American teenager. I was with him in a park earlier today and watched him rescue a cat that had climbed too high up a tree to escape from me. The cat managed to scratch his hand before he could grab it. I was fascinated to see that Phantom can bleed. It wasn't red, or silver like that which covers the Bloody Baron, but a vivid green."_

_That is the most relevant information regarding the halfa, now known as Phantom. I am currently working on a way to bring him to Headquarters, as there are a couple of issues that need to be worked out beforehand. It seems that one of the Ministry officials has taken a great interest in Phantom and has sent a team to capture him. Remus and I both agree that Phantom needs protection. Both against the Ministry and any Death Eaters that hear of him. They may report him to Voldemort. With such a power on his side, he could spy, and possibly assassinate, anyone he wished if they did not have the proper protection. _

_Remus has assured me that Phantom wants nothing to do with either the Ministry or Voldemort. However, there is still the concern that he may be bent to another's will. That is why we have decided that Phantom needs protection. When I figure out a workable solution, Phantom will be staying at Grimmauld Place for safety._

_I will contact you about this matter again, via Fawkes, when I have reached a solution._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

That's everything."

A stunned silence filled the kitchen. Of all the things they had been expecting, it wasn't this.

* * *

**Chapter 7: When Curiosity Takes over**

"Are you sure they haven't switched direction? I mean, they can fly so, it wouldn't be hard," Kingsley said in a carefree tone, hoping to get on his partner's nerves. He was grinning, striding along calmly. It was the best way he could annoy Tebbes and he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip through his fingers. It was working to perfection.

"Why? Why did I send the other two off together and stick myself with this guy?" Rift mumbled, constantly scanning for a tell-tale glow. Ducking into an alley, he performed the spell again. Laying his wand flat on his palm, he watched it swiftly spin around to point in a westerly direction to the one they had been heading in. "Keep your blasted comments to yourself!" he hissed at Kingsley.

The other man obliged, but the irritating grin he wore only grew wider. They set off once again, still keeping a sharp lookout.

* * *

"Hey, what's that?" Tonks asked, squinting at something in the distance.

"What?" Dawlish focused his gaze in the general direction his partner was pointing.

"That thing in the air…no, right there, idiot!" she impatiently snapped back, jerking his head to face the object of her interest.

"What is that?" he asked.

Tonks was using all of her willpower to restrain her urge to hit him upside the head. She was just about to give in when the 'thing in the air' came close enough to be clearly seen.

"I've seen Muggles make some weird contraptions, but this has got to be the weirdest one I've seen," Dawlish casually remarked. His tone was deceptive as you only had to look at his face to know that he was intrigued.

"Whatever it is, it's heading straight toward us! Don't you think we should move?" Tonks said loudly, trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice. She shot a quick glance at Dawlish when he didn't answer her. She saw him still avidly staring ahead. It did nothing to improve her already frayed temper. "Hey! Stop staring and _get out the way, idiot!_" she yelled, grabbing the front of his shirt and yanking him to the side.

She was not a moment too soon as Skulker went careening past, a triumphant smirk adorning his metallic visage. He had a firm grip on a very small, glowing net that was moving. Whatever was inside was obviously not happy to be there and was struggling to free itself.

"Was that the halfa?" Dawlish asked, adjusting his shirt to a more comfortable position where it didn't strangle him.

Tonks noted which way Skulker went as she replied. "I haven't a clue but I think we should follow it, just in case!"

"Ugh, do we have to?" he asked in a weary, resigned way.

"Yes! This is the first strange thing we've seen, we have to follow it!" Tonks threw the reply over her shoulder as she had already started running after Skulker.

Dawlish mumbled a curse under his breath and ran after her.

* * *

"Wait, what?" Danny asked incredulously. "I mean, I know you told me your boss would probably want to meet me and all but…I see a lot of holes with this!"

"Holes?" Remus politely repeated, trying not to sigh at all of the complications. The two once more found themselves in the older males' kitchen.

It was night-time, as Danny had school that day. Sam and Tucker had foregone meeting up as Tucker was busy and Sam's parents had told her to come straight home for some reason. Danny suspected the involvement of frills, lace and the colour pink.

"Yes, holes. For example, uh…how's your boss gonna get here so quickly on such short notice?"

Remus let loose the sigh, unable to hold it back any longer. He stopped to consider his answer. Fawkes had teleported a feather and a small, sealed roll of parchment back to his dusty bedroom only a few short hours after the phoenix's initial departure. The message was short and simple.

_Relevant topics forwarded. Shelter confirmed. Meeting arrangements in progress. Time and place unknown as yet. Stand by, keep watch and be on guard._

The message had been coded, but it was fairly easy for Remus to decipher. It was a special code developed by the Order and only the members knew how to crack it. For safety reasons, the codeword was changed at random intervals and the first ones to know of the change were the most trusted. Writing and reading the code could be slow, time-consuming and frustrating, however, so it was not used often. Despite the sparseness of the letter, Remus strongly suspected that it had been written by Minerva McGonagall.

"I never said he'd come here. He's still working out some details, so I don't have any answers to give you at the moment. Sorry," he offered the teen.

Danny shrugged as if he didn't care either way. He was actually quite nervous about this whole affair; he simply didn't want Remus to know that. He was Danny Phantom, hero of Amity Park, after all. Why should meeting one person make him so anxious? It was the blunt fact that Danny knew next to nothing about the Order. He wasn't sure what kind of a man Moony's boss really was.

"I'll let you know as soon as things have been arranged, okay?"

Danny nodded. "But what about my parents?"

"Hmmm…" Remus frowned.

* * *

There was still a couple of hours left before they had to go to bed, but none of the younger inhabitants, and many of the older ones, knew that sleep would be very easy in coming. There was too much to think about.

Hermione, of course, had gone straight for any book that had any mention of ghosts. She didn't remember reading about ghosts that were solid, colourful or that bled. _'The Bloody Baron is covered in blood, but ghosts only are if they died and became a ghost with the blood already on them,' _she mentally said, assuring herself of this knowledge. _'They don't have veins to carry blood anymore, so how could this Phantom character bleed? Professor Lupin wrote that he got scratched by a cat and bled green!'_ Frowning thoughtfully, she posed this to the others assembled in Ron and Harry's room.

"Didn't he say that Phantom was a special kind of ghost?" Harry asked as an answer.

"He said that Phantom was a 'rare, special type of spectral entity' and that he was 'just like a ghost'," she instantly recited, placing firm emphasis on the descriptions.

Ron, looking bewildered, turned to Hermione. "So, it's like a ghost, but it's not a ghost?"

"Yes."

Now Ginny looked as confused as her brother. "Isn't anything ghostly a ghost? If something is spectral, that means it's ghostly, right?" she asked, hoping her question made sense.

"You would think so," Hermione huffed. "That's apparently not the case with this…Phantom."

"I dunno how that works," Fred said.

"You don't think ol' Moony's lost his marbles?" George asked fearfully, as though, as a fellow mischief maker, this fate would one day befall him.

"I highly doubt it," sniffed Hermione.

Ron, this time with a scared look, felt the need to ask another question. "You don't reckon he's been, you know…brainwashed or possessed?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ghosts can't possess people, despite what Muggles may think otherwise," she said sharply.

"Yeah, but…I thought Phantom _wasn't_ a ghost?" Ginny added, oblivious to how pale Ron was becoming.

"Oh, this is so confusing!" snapped Hermione.

Harry gave her a sympathetic glance as he tried to think of something that would mollify her. An angry Hermione was never one to be near. "Maybe we should wait until he gets here? Dumbledore _did_ say he was making arrangements for Phantom to come here for protection. We can ask him."

"I suppose…" Hermione agreed, disgruntled at the lack of answers. "But Dumbledore didn't say how long it would be before Phantom came here, though."

* * *

"I think we lost it," Dawlish stated flatly.

"Oh, that's just great!" Tonks said angrily, casting her eyes about.

Dawlish was about to suggest a finding spell when two running figures slowed to a stop right near them. He gasped as he realised it was Tebbes and Shacklebolt. They had been running almost non-stop and were exhausted. They had been chasing Skulker all night and looked a little worse for wear as they took a breather.

It was Rift that spoke first. "Hey, did you see a metallic thing that glowed fly past here?" he asked the other two squad members.

"Yeah. We were following it, but it was too fast for us to keep up," Dawlish replied, looking slightly sheepish.

"Which way did it go?" asked Rift in a demanding tone.

Tonks indicated the direction with an outstretched arm. "It was heading that way, but it has to be a fair distance away by now. How are we supposed to catch up?"

Kingsley shook his head. "It's no use. We've been up and about all night and all day. I say we should head back to the hotel and get some rest. We have no hope of catching that thing being as tired as we are," he commented.

Rift, being the leader of the squad, saw the wisdom in this and nodded his assent. Without a word, he turned on his heels and starting walking. The others followed silently, the fatigue finally beginning to set in properly.

Tonks, having the least amount of stamina out the four, was dragging her feet. Her shuffling foot caught a lip of raised cement and she tripped forward, arms flailing, one of them just barely missing Tebbes, before she threw her other foot forward to catch herself. Embarrassed, she mumbled an apology and they continued on without any more mishaps except for the occasional wrong turn.

They all mentally sighed about the mission, though for different reasons.

* * *

Molly Weasley was bustling about in the kitchen, trying to do at least five different things at once. She set some dishes to wash themselves with a harried wave of her wand. After taking a second to make sure that they were indeed being scrubbed clean, she gave another wave towards the pots full of vegetables that were resting on the stove. Once they had started cooking, she caught her husband's eye.

He was giving her a no-nonsense look that, in no certain terms, said 'sit down and rest'. He watched with satisfaction as she obeyed, pulling up a chair next to him and wearily slumping into it. "There's no need to run yourself ragged, dear," he said gently, initiating conversation. "You've seemed a little preoccupied ever since I read that letter. Is something wrong?"

Twisting the fraying hem of her apron in her fingers, Molly looked straight at Arthur. "It's…well, it's this Phantom person. Remus said he's only fourteen! That's younger than Harry and the poor thing is…"

"Dead?" Arthur supplied as his wife fell silent.

"Well, yes… So young! That could easily be any of the children, Arthur!" she sobbed, letting her tears fall freely.

Arthur, now that he knew what the problem was, moved his chair over to his wife's and wrapped his arms around her trembling form. "There, there, Molly. You know that none of the kids are in the Order. And soon they'll be back at Hogwarts, the safest place there is!" he said cheerfully, trying to bolster her spirits. "Dumbledore will be there to watch over them."

"Yes, you're right…" she sniffed, giving him a watery smile. "I just wonder if I'll be able to treat Phantom normally. As soon as I see him, I'm going to see a young teenager whose life was cut tragically short…"

"I think you're over thinking this," he stated bluntly. "He's a teenager, isn't he? Then simply treat him like a teenager. Act just as you would if it was Harry or Ron and I'm sure you'll do fine."

Molly's trembling ceased and she eased herself out of her husband's arms as she stood up. "Yes, I know all to well how to handle teenage boys," she said with a teasing grin. "I'm just going to straighten myself up before someone comes down." She headed for the doorway, intent on reaching the bathroom to make herself presentable once again.

Arthur Weasley remained where he was, glad for his brief respite from work and planning to take full advantage to rest and relax as much as he could. When he heard his wife's footstep's echo away, a proud smile made its way onto his face. _'I was thinking the very same thing after I finished reading that letter…so I guess now I'll have to practice what I preach,'_ he thought, giving a soft chuckle at the irony. He quickly schooled his features as he heard Molly returning.

The only signs left that she had been crying were slightly red eyes. Re-entering the kitchen, she went over to check to the vegetables that were merrily bubbling away. "Since you're here, would you mind grabbing the drinks, dear?"

* * *

'_I wonder what is so strange about this halfa, Phantom. Remus said he promised not to reveal exactly what Phantom is. He also told Phantom that he is a werewolf. Why would Remus do such a thing? Especially since it appears that Phantom knows nothing of the Wizarding World…yet he is of a ghostly nature?'_

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore sat at his desk in his cosy office at Hogwarts. He had been deep in thought after he had read Lupin's report. He was unable to solve the puzzle that seemed to surround Phantom and it was starting to drive him to distraction.

Fawkes trilled softly, jarring him momentarily from his thoughts. The phoenix was staring at him as if it could sense his confusion and wanted to help.

Dumbledore gave the rare bird a reassuring, if slightly weary, smile. "Well, Fawkes, I guess I should be setting up the arrangements for Phantom to come here and discuss things, don't you agree?"

Fawkes lifted his head and gave a short, sharp trill that reverberated throughout the round room, echoing back and forth from the walls.

"Yes, that's what I suspected. No time like the present, is there?"

After receiving another affirmative from the phoenix, he reached across his desk for a blank piece of parchment, inkpot and a quill. "Now, how to do this without revealing something a Muggle shouldn't know?"

* * *

Danny let Mr. Lancer's droning voice wash in one ear and out the other. He had gone to his new neighbour's house after school yesterday, hoping to learn more about his pursuers, but had left with no answers. _'I know he told me a really big secret…if he truly __**is**__ a werewolf, that is…but I still feel like he's hiding something. He seems like an honest, open person, but…'_

A note went sailing by his ear and he whipped out a hand to catch it, his reflexes having kicked in the instant he heard the air being displaced. His eyes flashed to the front to see if Mr. Lancer had noticed. The English teacher was still droning, so Danny knew he was safe. He carefully unfolded the note, as Mr. Lancer was quite good at distinguishing the different types of rustles that paper made, and let his eyes roam over it.

_Danny,_

_Did you go to see Moony yesterday? I would have come, but my parents…I really hate pink!_

_Sam_

Smiling knowingly, Danny wrote a reply. As soon as Mr. Lancer had his back turned, writing something on the board, Danny took aim and gently lobbed the note in the air. It landed right on target on Sam's desk.

This time it was Sam unfurling the paper with care.

_Sam,_

_Yeah, I did. I wanted to find out more about this group that this lady's sent after me. He didn't, or couldn't, tell me anything. I don't think he knows that much about her._

_Don't worry, I totally understand about your parents. What 'horrible pink monstrosity' did they try to get you to wear this time?_

_Danny_

Sam had to stifle a snort of laughter at Danny's wording. She always called the dresses her parents tried to force on her 'horrible pink monstrosities'. She found it funny that Danny had remembered such a trivial thing, though it made her feel oddly happy that he paid that much attention to her. She quickly set about writing an answer. Keeping an eye on their teacher, she threw the note. Her aim was true, due to many long hours of video games and ghost hunting.

Danny was hoping Sam would say something to cheer him up, like she usually did. He was not disappointed.

_Danny,_

_There is no way I'm going home until I have to today, so I'll come with you. We'll grab Tucker if we can and the three of us can talk to Moony. I'm sure we'll be able to find out something. It's almost lunch, so we'll ask Tuck then._

_It was a ballroom-style gown. Pastel pink, covered in glitter and laced with frills and ruffs. It was one of the most ugliest things I've ever seen in my life! It made me want to gouge out my eyes! Thankfully my Grandma started causing a racket downstairs and my parents dashed off to find out what it was. I'm not sure what she did, but I escaped, so I don't care._

_Sam_

He could barely contain his laughter at the mental image Sam's description provided. Slapping a hand over his mouth, he discreetly nodded to let Sam know he agreed. His muffled laughter slowly subsiding, he cast his eyes to the clock in the vain hope that it would go faster. It was only ten minutes until the bell rang for lunch, but to Danny those ten minutes were going to take forever.

Tucker, who had noticed the note exchanges, smirked to himself. He saw Danny eyeing the clock more intently than usual and figured that the half-ghost was waiting for the lunch bell. '_Something must be going on…and I bet Danny's waiting 'til lunch so we can talk about it. What could it be?'_ With that thought, Tucker started his vigil on the clock also.

After ten seemingly endless minutes, the bell finally rang.

"Alright class, remember to read chapters six through fifteen! Dismissed!" barked Mr. Lancer, trying, but failing, to sound intimidating. He sighed as he realised that none of the students were listening to him.

After being served by the irritable old lunch lady, the three found an empty table and made themselves as comfortable as they could. A few bites of their meal later, Tucker decided to break the relative silence. "So, I'm guessing you wanna talk about something?"

Danny swallowed before answering. "Yeah. I went to Moony's yesterday to ask him more about these people that are after me. He didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but Sam thinks that if the three us of go, we might find out something new."

"Well I'm not busy today, so I'm coming for sure!" Tucker hastily assured.

Danny grinned at his friend's enthusiasm. It turned into a frown a second later. "There's a problem, though…"

"Problem?" Tucker asked, his cheer ebbing.

"Yeah, a problem. See, the thing is, I don't think Moony knows all that much about this lady himself. I know that he knows two of the four that are after me, but as for the lady in charge…"

Sam's brow furrowed. "Yeah, you wrote that in your note. Still, even if he doesn't know anything about her, we can ask him about the two that are part of this 'Order' that he's a member of. The more we know, the better prepared we'll be, right?"

"So, what, he doesn't even know the name of this lady?" Tucker interrupted.

Danny blinked. "Yeah, he told me her name…but it was a weird name and I don't really remember what it was…" He gave his friends an embarrassed grin while one of his hands involuntarily went to rest at the back of his head in a gesture of awkwardness.

"You and your horrible attention span," Sam muttered to herself, bravely resisting the urge to kick her clueless crush in the shin. She was sure her boots would leave an impression of sorts.

"Wait, I know it started with a 'D'!" Danny burst out.

Tucker, with some kind of meat product partway to his mouth, stopped. Not lowering his fork, Tucker gave his comment before shovelling the mystery meat down. "That's _really_ helpful."

Sam made a sudden choking noise as she starting laughing with a mouthful of salad. Once she had some semblance of control back, she noticed Danny's look of mock-hurt. Feeling a little bad, even though she knew he hadn't taken offence, she tried to help him out. "It wasn't Dorothy, was it?"

Danny shook his head in frustration. "No, but the first part sounds familiar."

"Dor?" Tucker asked sceptically.

"No, just the first two letters."

"I guess it isn't Dorothea, then?" Sam said jokingly. She got an amused grin as Danny sarcastically indicated 'no'.

Tucker, having been drawn into the impromptu guessing game, decided to give it a shot. "Donna?" He sighed as Danny shook his in the negative yet again. "You know, this would be a lot easier if there were more names that fit with 'D' and 'O'!" he exclaimed.

Sam nodded her agreement even as Danny's mind was racing to find the next familiar-sounding letter.

"The 'O' counts out Delilah, too!" the African-American grumbled.

"'L', that's it! Dol-something…"

A bit startled by their friend's sudden outburst, Sam and Tucker just got on with the business of eating as Danny continued to rack his brain.

'_What was it he said?'_ he thought, trying to recall all that had been spoken that night. _'He was saying about two of the four being members…and something Umbridge is her name.'_ Not getting as far as he wanted, he dug further into his memory. _'"They are working at the place the lady who wants you, Dolores Umbridge is her name, works." Aha, yes!'_ Pleased at his success, he turned to both of his friends, a wide smile on his face.

"Did you remember?" Sam inquired eagerly.

"Yep! Her name is Dolores Umbridge," the half-ghost stated proudly. "Now that that's out of the way, do we all agree to ask Moony about this squad after school today?" he finished, his voice taking a much more serious tone.

Sam and Tucker both nodded immediately. The three went back to their lunches to eat what they could before they were inevitably dragged back to class. But, not before Tucker added his two cents. "You're right, that _is_ a weird name."

"Not much weirder than _Remus Lupin_," Sam countered.

Danny found he had to concede. _'Sam has a point. I wonder if everyone from there has a weird name.'_

* * *

Remus had been wandering from room to room within his temporary house. He was becoming increasingly more anxious, though only his pointless meanderings through his house gave any indication of his unease. All of this waiting and suspense was starting to wear his nerves down. The man had no idea if the Aurors had found a clue to Danny's trail and, if so, when they would strike. It was next to impossible for Tonks or Kingsley to contact him without raising the suspicion of the other two Aurors. It also made any chance for him to contact them himself, without getting caught, sufficiently less than zero.

He knew Danny was getting edgy, too, though the teen hid it fairly well. Since Remus had only just met Danny, and knew relatively little about him, he was unsure how Danny would act. _'Will he snap from the pressure and do something foolish? Will he weather the storm and wait it out? Ugh, this is so frustrating! It'll help put my mind at ease if I made Danny, also Sam and Tucker, promise me that they won't go __**looking**__ for trouble,'_ he thought, unknowingly echoing the same thing that Arthur Weasley had once asked of Harry.

With that thought now firmly etched into his brain, he found himself staring out the window to search the street for them without even knowing when he moved. Giving his head a little shake, he turned his mind to something more practical. "I haven't had lunch yet. No use watching for those three, they'll still be in school. I'll go raid the fridge and see what I can scrounge up," he said to the house in general. Remus forced his legs to walk in the direction of the kitchen, wondering if he should ask Albus to grant him a relaxing vacation all the while. Sighing in disappointment, he knew that that thought was just a fantasy at the moment. He was needed far too much with the Order to simply take off somewhere and unwind.

Gathering what bits of food he managed to pull together, the werewolf made himself a chicken and lettuce sandwich. His eyes kept involuntarily drifting back to the clock, waiting for the moment when the hands would indicate the end of the school day.

* * *

A groan, heavily laden with annoyance and sleepiness, was all the answer that Kingsley Shacklebolt received. He gave Tonks' shoulder another shake, this one a little more forceful. "Come on, up you get. I know you're still tired - we all are - but you have to get up!" Another groan from the blanket-covered figure. "I didn't want to do this, but you've left me no choice…" he said with a sigh. "Get your lazy backside out of that bed this instant, Nymphadora Tonks!"

Tonks shot up like a startled rabbit at the sudden order that was barked straight into her ear. "Who the - wuzzit?" she declared, obviously still sleep-muddled. As her eyesight came into focus, she recognised the slightly-blurry visage of Kingsley. As her eyes fixed the blurriness altogether, she scowled at the realisation of what he'd done. He'd yelled in her ear, using her full name. Fixing him with a heated glare, she shooed him out of her hotel room so she could get ready.

As the door slammed shut in his face, Kingsley dug his fingers in his ears to remove any wax. He could have sworn that her glare had been accompanied by a low growling. _'Tonks, growl? Nah, it must've been my imagination. I'm still very tired; I'm simply hearing things.'_ Reassured by that thought, he pushed it out of his mind and headed down to the eating area where Tebbes and Dawlish already were. Their breakfast would have to be their lunch at the hour that it was.

Tonks joined the men about twenty minutes later, her hair still a little tousled from sleep.

Rift was about to address her, but one look at her icy expression instantly dissuaded him from that particular course of action. He hastily coughed to cover up his half-formed word. Feeling abashed, he picked up his fork and started to finish off the last few morsels of food that were left on his plate. The others quickly followed his example, Kingsley making doubly sure that he couldn't meet her eyes.

Plucking up his courage, Rift spoke, pointedly looking anywhere but at the female of the group. "We've only managed to find one strange thing in this place that may have been a lead. However, because it succeeded in evading us, we're now back to square one. If we simply follow the original plan, we'll end up running ourselves ragged again. Anyone got any new ideas?"

After several minutes of intense silence at the table, Dawlish looked up. He had a half-formed grin on his face as though he had an idea but was unsure about sharing it. Rift nodded at him and he caved. "Well, when I was reading the paper, I came across a whole lot of articles about ghosts. One section said that a lot of the 'attacks'," he emphasised, "seem to happen at a place called Casper High School. Why don't we go there and take a look around?"

Rift silently pondered the wisdom of this course of action and could find no fault. _'It's easy enough to get kids to talk about something in the media. I'm sure we'll overhear some interesting gossip if nothing else.'_ He gave a grin of satisfaction and began outlining a new plan. "Okay, we need to find this school. We'll stick together this time; pretend we're tourists or something, until we reach it. Once we're there, split up, stay out of sight and keep an ear out. Teenagers love to gossip and I'm sure that there'll be talk of these 'ghosts' in the usual jabber. Once you think you've heard enough, head straight back here."

"Yeah, I follow, but what if school ends? I don't think it's a school like Hogwarts where you live there," Dawlish pointed out.

Rift bit back a sigh of frustration. "If the school finishes for the day, then come back here. If the students are in classes, then conceal yourselves under windows if you can. We _need_ to learn _something_ about what goes on in this place. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" the three automatically replied in unison.

"Wait!" Tonks suddenly piped up. Rift quirked an eyebrow for her to continue. "What if we're spotted?"

"You shouldn't be you're an Auror!" he hissed back through gritted teeth. "Use a Disillusionment Charm!"

"Oh, yeah…" she murmured, trailing off. _'I completely forgot about that!'_ she thought, mentally chastising herself.

"Anymore questions?" Rift inquired impatiently.

The three shook their heads, Dawlish muttering a 'no' under his breath.

"Good. We leave now!"

* * *

**A/N:** So, wasn't terrible, was it? I know I'm taking an age for Danny to meet with another magical person, but we'll get there. I can be really good at rushing things if I'm not careful. Hence the reason this fic's pace is set slow. I'm sorry if you don't like it, but that's just the way it is. Thanks to my wonderful beta **Em Phantom**! Did I thank you yet? ;)

**Remember!!!** - I always keep my profile page up-to-date. I have a section there where I post what chapter of which story I'm up to and how much of that chapter I've completed. If you wanna know how close I am to finishing the next chapter of ANY of my stories, head there and scroll down a short way. They're under the heading '**Story Updates**'.

Thankyou to all of you who find the time to read this and review! -hugs- And thankyou to all those who have this little fic on their Favourite/Alert list. Also, a big shout out to my anonymous reviewers! I would love to thankyou personally, but I can't…

Tell me your thoughts on this chapter. Is my writing improving? Staying at a near-constant level? Backsliding? (I hope not! O_o)

~FantomoDrako


	8. The Walls Have Ears

**A/N:** Hello! Please don't hunt me down and gut me like a fish…! I'm fully aware that it's been half a year since I posted chapter seven. I never felt like writing this; my motivation for DP and HP had all but disappeared. After watching a few episodes of DP (and the movie The Ultimate Enemy) I got back into the swing of it. So, please enjoy the long-awaited eighth chapter!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own DP. If I owned HP, don't you think I'd be getting royalties from the latest movie sales? I wish, I'd be rich; rich I tell you!!!

"Speech"

'_Thoughts__'_

**Danny will be ref erred to as Phantom whenever he is in ghost mode (by those who don't know he's Danny or if someone who doesn't know is around).**

**Recap:** "Did you remember?" Sam inquired eagerly.

"Yep! Her name is Dolores Umbridge," the half-ghost stated proudly. "Now that that's out of the way, do we all agree to ask Moony about this squad after school today?" he finished, his voice taking a much more serious tone.

Sam and Tucker both nodded immediately. The three went back to their lunches to eat what they could before they were inevitably dragged back to class. But, not before Tucker added his two cents. "You're right, that _is_ a weird name."

"Not much weirder than _Remus Lupin_," Sam countered.

Danny found he had to concede. _'__Sam has a point. I wonder if everyone from there has a weird name.__'_

* * *

Rift silently pondered the wisdom of this course of action and could find no fault. _'__It__'__s easy enough to get kids to talk about something in the media. I__'__m sure we__'__ll overhear some interesting gossip if nothing else.__'_ He gave a grin of satisfaction and began outlining a new plan. "Okay, we need to find this school. We'll stick together this time; pretend we're tourists or something, until we reach it. Once we're there, split up, stay out of sight and keep an ear out. Teenagers love to gossip and I'm sure that there'll be talk of these 'ghosts' in the usual jabber. Once you think you've heard enough, head straight back here."

"Yeah, I follow, but what if school ends? I don't think it's a school like Hogwarts where you live there," Dawlish pointed out.

Rift bit back a sigh of frustration. "If the school finishes for the day, then come back here. If the students are in classes, then conceal yourselves under windows if you can. We _need_ to learn _something_ about what goes on in this place. Understand?"

"Yes, sir!" the three automatically replied in unison.

"Wait!" Tonks suddenly piped up. Rift quirked an eyebrow for her to continue. "What if we're spotted?"

"You shouldn't be you're an Auror!" he hissed back through gritted teeth. "Use a Disillusionment Charm!"

"Oh, yeah…" she murmured, trailing off. _'__I completely forgot about that!__'_ she thought, mentally chastising herself.

"Anymore questions?" Rift inquired impatiently.

The three shook their heads, Dawlish muttering a 'no' under his breath.

"Good. We leave now!"

* * *

**Chapter Eight: The Walls Have Ears**

It was two-thirty in the afternoon. _'When does school here finish? It can't be more than an hour to go now…'_ Remus thought, flicking his eyes to the clock for the forty-seventh time in the last hour alone. Just as he was about to resume his blank wall-staring, a flash of fire - accompanied by a gold and red-plumed phoenix and a rolled piece of parchment - startled him out of his wits with its suddenness. Lightly trembling fingers quickly darted out and snatched the parchment just as it hit the tabletop. Remus had to check himself from tearing the seal in half in feverish haste. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he gently, but swiftly, unfurled it.

_Remus,_

_You've certainly managed to weave a tangled web for yourself. I have decided to reveal the Wizarding World to Phantom only if the need arises. He will be told everything if he agrees to come to Headquarters._

_This, of course, leaves me with the puzzle of how to meet Phantom without revealing any magical sources. After much searching, I believe I have found an answer. It would be unwise for him to come to Hogwarts to meet with me, as he will likely be able to 'sense', in a word, the magic throughout the entire castle. I would have set this up at Grimmauld Place but, knowing Harry and his friends, they will find and use any way they can to listen in. We could ward the room but, again, that would leave a magical residue that Phantom might be able to sense._

_While this information is not something that they should be barred from hearing, it will be safer if they are unaware of most of it. While I'm sure that none of them would betray us, they would, unfortunately, unwillingly reveal such things if a Death Eater managed to catch one of them._

_I have therefore decided to use the living room at The Burrow. It has been empty long enough for any residue to be practically untraceable. I have already contacted Molly and Arthur about the use of their home and they have graciously agreed to let me borrow it for this meeting. I will be removing any magical items from the room beforehand. I will meet with him at The Burrow at 11:30 pm tonight. _

_You will find a Portkey in a pouch that is hanging around Fawkes' neck. It will have residue so, to cover this, simply tell Phantom that it is a rare spectral artefact imbued with ancient spectral energy that is capable of instant teleportation to a designated place._

_If this cannot be arranged on your end, send Fawkes back with the Portkey and a letter stating a time and place that Phantom is agreeable to. If he does agree to tonight's meeting, send Fawkes back with nothing. I will know then that Phantom will be there and shall be awaiting him at The Burrow._

_In the best of hopes,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Setting the letter down on the table, Remus had to work hard to suppress a smile. Something was finally happening and he was looking forward to telling Danny. He felt bad for withholding so much information from the teen, but he knew it was necessary.

'_I haven't seen hide or hair of any Aurors. Either they're keeping very low profiles, or they have no clue as of yet. For Danny's sake, I hope he agrees to be sheltered at Grimmauld Place. If he does, the sooner he leaves means the less chance that one of the Aurors find him,'_ Remus pondered. He was still undecided if spotting no signs of any Aurors was a good or bad thing. _'No news is good news, right?'_ he mentally asked, trying to reassure himself.

There was no way he could possibly know, so he let that train of thought die. Just as he was about to sneak a peek at the clock again, he remembered that Fawkes had not left. "Oh, sorry, Fawkes! I forgot you were there," he apologised, turning to flash a guilty look at the bird. "I'm sure Danny will come over again today. If he does go tonight, at least I won't have to think of an excuse to tell his parents. They're sure to be asleep by that time. You'll have to stay out of sight while he's here, okay?"

Fawkes gave a soft trill of agreement.

"Great. I better take the Portkey off you then." Reaching out, he took the pouch from around the bird's neck and pulled apart the strings that held the small pouch closed. His fingers hooked around a smooth, circular object and he pulled it out to inspect it.

It was a small, flat rock that fitted snugly in his palm and appeared to have some kind of runes engraved on it. Remus suspected that the runes were simply there to throw Danny off and make the cover story more believable. All in all, it looked like a small keepsake from ancient times. It was the dull brown of smooth rock and Remus began to wonder if it looked _too_ nondescript to be passed off as something spectral.

'_Can Danny sense spectral energy? Albus thinks he might be able to sense magic, so it's only logical that he can distinguish ghostly energy from others. Will he know it's not what we say it is when he holds it?'_ Feeling anxious again, he resumed his periodic glances at the clock that continued to - it seemed to him - tick sluggishly on.

* * *

"Is this the place?" Dawlish asked in a near-whisper.

"The big white letters over the doorway _do _say 'Casper High School', don't they?" Rift replied in a condescending tone.

Dawlish clamped his mouth shut and tried not to let his frustration show on his face.

The four Aurors had made it to the school and now had only to choose positions to stake out. They were all crouched behind a fairly tall, thick row of bushes facing the front of the educational institution. Rift gestured for the other three to move one by one so as not to attract unwanted attention.

Kingsley moved first, ducking to the right and performing a Disillusionment Charm before slowly making his way across the road so that nobody would notice the slight distortion in the air that he created. Tonks followed his lead, Disillusioning herself and ducking left. Dawlish performed the charm as well, heading off to make his way around the back of the large, brick building. Rift stayed where he was for a few seconds, making sure that the others made it to their positions without incident, before he, too, Disillusioned himself and strode slowly over the road. He came to a halt near a window at the front of the school; one of the closest to the door.

* * *

"Summer break!" Tucker all but shouted.

"And doesn't it feel great?" Danny agreed, grinning like a cat that caught a canary.

"Oh man, why did we have to have gym class last, though?" Tucker whined, rubbing his left elbow. He had fallen from a piece of gym equipment and had landed right on it.

"Because someone, somewhere, knew that you needed the exercise," Sam smartly replied. "Seriously, Tucker, with all the ghost hunting we do, you'd think you'd be in fine physical shape by now!"

"You'd think so," he retorted, not looking happy in the slightest. "It's not fair!" he wailed dramatically, attracting weird looks from the students that were passing by the trio.

Sam stomped one of her heels into Tucker's closest foot, eliciting a yelp from the boy. "We're already complete social outcasts at school! Not that I really care about the social ladder, but you're not helping!"

Danny strode ahead of them a couple of steps. "Are you two gonna stand here and argue or are you coming with me?" he said, knowing that it would break up their spat.

"I'm coming!"

"There is NO way I'm going home until I absolutely _have_ to!"

Danny let a small smirk cross his face at his friends' predictable behaviour. The three friends strolled off towards FentonWorks, hoping to wrangle something new out of Remus.

"Seriously though Tucker, you should work out more. Having your nose stuck in front of your PDA isn't good for you," Sam admonished the beret-wearing boy.

Tucker looked at Sam with an earnest expression. "My dear Sam, everything on my PDA is good for me! Every game improves my hand-eye coordination, I'll have you know. That's why my aim with any ghost weapon is spot-on!" he boasted.

Danny muffled an amused snort. "So, going by what you just said, if my dad played video games on your PDA, it would improve his aim?"

"I'm not sure if even my baby could do _that_!" Tucker said with a laugh.

The three lapsed into silence as they walked, each with their thoughts on what they would ask the werewolf. Danny had been surprised that the two had taken it so well when he had told them of Lupin's secret. Both of them had reasoned that the existence of werewolves went hand-in-hand with ghosts and left it at that. Though, the discussion that followed had led Sam to ask if vampires were real. Seeing as how Danny didn't know, Sam mentally added it to her list of questions.

They had been walking for a while, chatting about general things, when the Op Centre perched on top of Danny's house finally came into view. After turning a couple of corners and walking a little ways further, the trio found themselves in front of the ex-professor's door. Danny had just raised his hand to knock when the door swung open; Remus standing just behind the doorway wearing a relieved smile. He ushered them inside and all four found themselves seated at his kitchen table once again.

Without giving the three a chance to comment on his behaviour, Remus waved a hand to gesture for them to remain silent. "Before you say anything, I'm going to guess that you three are a bit frustrated and impatient with this whole situation, yes?" He received three nods as confirmation. "Then you'll be happy to hear that I have some important news for you."

"It can't be anything bad or you wouldn't be looking so happy," Danny deduced, letting himself relax. He had tensed up when Remus had opened the door before he even had the chance to knock, anticipating something bad.

"It's not good, per se, but it's definitely nothing bad," he replied, his mind calculating how the teen had come to such a conclusion. The only other teen he knew of that could deduce things in this manner was Harry. _'Maybe it's a hero thing?'_ he joked to himself. "I have received a letter from my…boss. Now, you know he wants to meet with you, right?"

"Yeah," Danny said slowly, wondering where Remus was going with this.

"He has decided on a meeting place and has arranged a time. Eleven-thirty tonight, if that's alright with you? You won't have to give your parents an excuse to leave if they think you're in bed sleeping soundly. Of course, while it will be eleven-thirty here, it will be a different time where you meet, so you might experience some disorientation when you arrive. What do you say?"

Danny seemed to ponder upon his answer for a few moments before speaking. "Are you coming with me?"

Remus shook his head. "No, I must remain here. You'll have to go by yourself, but you needn't worry about anything; there's no safer man you could possibly be with," he said reassuringly, giving the young half-ghost an encouraging smile.

Danny mulled it all over in his head, weighing the pros and cons. "How am I getting there?"

"Since taking any normal method of transportation would be far too slow, my boss has managed to dig up something that is capable of instant teleportation. This ancient artefact is of spectral origin and is very rare, so please do not lose it or damage it in any way." Having said his piece, Remus presented Danny with the pouch that he had relieved Fawkes of.

The teen opened the pouch and upended it, the rock falling into his left palm. He studied the rock for a few moments, tracing the engraved runes lightly with a finger. "This little thing's gonna teleport me? How does it work?"

"I'm not sure of the exact details, but I do know that you set it to activate at a specific time to teleport whoever is touching it to a specified location," Remus said, giving Danny a slightly edited version of the textbook description for a Portkey. "That will activate the exact second the clock in here hits eleven-thirty."

"Wow," Danny said, looking at the rock a little differently.

Tucker was staring at it strangely. "Neat!" he exclaimed. He sounded a little disappointed that something capable of instant teleportation did not look technological in the slightest.

"So, Danny, do you agree to the meeting?" Remus asked, peering at the raven-haired teen intently.

'_I'm not gonna get another chance to slip away unnoticed like this. If I'm gonna do it, it should be now. The quicker I figure all of this out, the better.'_ Danny nodded to Remus and said, "Yes."

* * *

The four entered the room and made sure the door was securely locked before speaking. Tonks, Dawlish, Kingsley and Rift took various seats in the room. Tonks took the bed, Kingsley and Rift took chairs and Dawlish was left with the floor.

"Report."

Dawlish shuffled a little, trying to find a patch of floor that was more comfortable. "I didn't find out anything interesting beyond the normal teen chatter," he said, keeping his gaze mostly focused on the carpet at his feet.

"I heard some students grumbling about a mess they were cleaning up. Apparently it was caused by a ghost. None of them saw the ghost, so I was unable to find out anything more," Kingsley said as he drummed his fingers on the arms of the chair.

"I didn't hear anything interesting except for one thing this girl said. She mentioned wanting to see the ghost boy again," Tonks related. "She didn't say anything else about this 'ghost boy', but I'm guessing it's one of the ghosts that frequent this place. It sounded like she has a crush on him, whoever he is," she finished, looking a bit disgusted at the thought.

Rift sighed and leaned back in the floral-patterned armchair. "Well done. It's not much, but at least we know more than we did before. I myself heard a group of teens mention 'ghost hunting'. Though, knowing Muggles, they could have very well been referring to some sort of game. I know Muggles have devices that they play games on."

"Can we afford to take that chance?" Dawlish asked, glancing at his leader.

"No, we can't afford to take any chances," Rift replied, frowning in contemplation. "There were three of them; two boys and a girl. One of the boys had dark skin and wore a funny red hat, yellow shirt and dark green pants. The other boy had black hair, blue eyes and wore a white t-shirt and blue pants. The girl also had black hair, but she wore a black top and skirt along with combat boots. I want you to keep your eyes peeled for these three and follow them if you see them. That way we'll have somewhere to truly start our search from. Do you all understand?"

"Yes, sir!" three voices said simultaneously, though Tonks didn't sound very enthusiastic.

* * *

Danny shifted restlessly. Ever since he returned home, he had been glancing at the clock; much like Remus had been doing earlier. Danny had tried to keep himself busy or distracted, but it hadn't worked as well as he'd hoped.

The clock now read 10:58 and Danny had completely run out of things to occupy his attention. The normally school-lazy teen had even finished his homework. Flopping onto his bed, Danny absently stared at the ceiling, wondering where that mark - looking suspiciously like some type of burn - had come from. Danny slowly turned his head and directed his blank gaze at his clock.

11:16

"Close enough," he muttered, unable to take the inactivity any longer. Standing up, he let the two familiar white rings wash over him. Now in ghost mode, the fourteen-year-old willed his entire body to fade out, becoming little more than a whitish-blue outline. Phasing through his bedroom wall, Danny whispered a quick goodbye to his family and flew into Lupin's house from the back.

Looking around a bit, he quickly located the werewolf in the kitchen, sitting at the table drinking a cup of strong tea. Unable to resist the urge, Danny turned invisible and floated directly behind the man's head. Leaning forward, he whispered, "Boo!" right into Remus' ear.

Remus looked like a startled rabbit, eyes wide and full of sudden fright and panic. He spat out his current mouthful of tea, as he had taken a sip just as Danny spoke, and it sprayed all over the table. "What the?!" he exclaimed, standing up and whirling around. His hand was closed around the wand in his pocket and he was a hair's breadth away from drawing it when he heard laughter. Releasing his grip on his wand, Remus allowed his body to come down from high alert. "Very funny, Mr. Comedian," he commented dryly. "Ever considered doing Halloween parties?"

"No, but if it payed I might be tempted," replied a disembodied voice. Returning to the plane of visibility, Danny floated down and took a seat opposite to the one Remus had hastily vacated. He sat there, the picture of guilty innocence.

Remus shook his head, unable to believe this prank-loving teenager sitting before him was truly a powerful being capable of defeating enemies that no wizard could hope to. Fetching a tea towel, Remus wiped down the table before reclaiming his seat. "You're a little early," he said lightly.

Danny shrugged. "I got bored waiting in my room."

"Any quick questions you want to ask that you forgot or didn't think of earlier?" he asked, trying to fill in the nervous silence. Danny and his friends had grilled him quite thoroughly that afternoon and, to be honest, he wasn't feeling up for a second round. Still, he knew it would ease some of the tension weighing Danny down and he was willing to help.

"Nope, I'm pretty sure I asked everything I wanted to," Danny answered, eyes automatically seeking the clock to check the time.

11:23

"Now, Danny…" Remus began speaking, jerking his attention away from the time-telling device, "I want you to listen to everything he says seriously. Don't make hasty decisions and don't judge things without knowing all of the facts, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Danny sighed, nodding distractedly. Why did adults always feel the need to lecture teenagers in some way?

Remus gritted his teeth, knowing that Danny was only half listening. "Depending on what you're told dictates how much you can talk over with Sam and Tucker, do you understand?"

Danny blinked a bit at that. "What do you mean?"

The werewolf was about to answer when he shot a quick squiz at the clock. "No time!" he gushed out. "You'll understand what I mean when you talk to him. Here," he said, holding out the small rune-engraved rock.

The young half-ghost gingerly took it, cradling it in his palm.

Both males kept their eyes glued to the steadily ticking second-hand. There was just under half a minute remaining.

"Wait, how am I getting back?!" Danny asked in a panic, mentally beating himself up for not asking this earlier.

"My boss will get you back here, don't worry! You need to relax, everything will work out in the end, you'll see, Dan-"

The rest of his words did not reach Danny's ears as he felt a strange pulling sensation at his navel. Trying to ignore it became impossible when he was jerked irresistibly forward. Danny screwed his eyes shut, hearing nothing but the wind whistling as it rushed past him, instantly reminding him of his strange dreams. The whole experience felt like it took longer than it actually did and Danny was glad when the pull stopped, the wind slowed to a bare zephyr and his feet touched solid ground before buckling out from under him.

"You must be Phantom," a wise, friendly sounding voice said.

Phantom looked up from his prone position on the floor and caught sight of the strangest man he had ever seen.

It was an old man with a very long white beard - long enough that he had it tucked into his belt - that was wearing what looked like a cloak or possibly a robe which was a rich purple colour. A pair of half-moon glasses was resting on his crooked nose; kind, piercing blue eyes stared out through them. All in all, Phantom thought he resembled the nice, yet eccentric uncle that the rest of the family tried to keep knowledge of hidden from the public so that no-one would associate them with the weird man.

"I am Albus Dumbledore," he said, bending down and offering a hand to the stunned half-ghost. Phantom cautiously took it and Albus pulled him to his feet, directing him to one of the comfy-looking armchairs scattered throughout the cluttered room. Once they were both settled, Phantom sitting opposite to Albus a few feet apart, the Headmaster cleared his throat. "Tea? Lolly?" he said, indicating a tray full of the aforementioned stuff that was sitting on a table off to the side.

"Uh, no thanks…" Phantom said, eyeing the tray warily. He examined the room he was in as much as he could without taking his gaze fully off the man before him. It was a rather interesting room; filled with many things you would find belonging to a large family. Books, ornaments, clothes and various other items were strewn about in a haphazard manner. Although a bit cramped, it seemed quite cosy.

Albus had not expected Phantom to take anything. After all, ghosts could not eat or drink and Phantom, while very surprising in appearance, was still a ghostly being. Still, common courtesy was not completely dead in the world.

"So, uh, you're Moony's boss?" Phantom managed to say, breaking the strange silence.

Albus gazed across at the nervous teen and smiled. "Yes, I suppose I am. I have been most anxious to meet you as I can honestly say that you intrigue me like nothing else ever has. I have never seen a spectral being appear any other colour than pearly-white. Remus also told me that you are corporeal, solid until you turn yourself intangible. Never have I heard of such a thing… And so, I have called you here tonight, not to satisfy my curiosity, but on a matter of grave urgency."

Phantom instantly took note of the slight changes in the man's posture indicating that he was completely serious. Frowning, Phantom unconsciously tensed his body, ready to respond in a split second to any signals. "I'm listening."

Albus nodded imperceptibly, pleased at the teen's response. "Very well, let us get down to business. Mr. Phantom, I'm sure Remus has informed you of the danger you are currently in, yes?"

"You mean that lady that's sent this group of people after me? Dolores Umbridge?"

"Dolores Umbridge is, unfortunately, not your biggest threat," Albus replied sadly, still sounding serious.

Phantom blinked, not quite able to believe what he had just heard. _'But…Moony came to warn me about HER! What could be worse than her that I don't know about? And, if there is something, why didn't Moony tell me?'_ He coughed slightly, clearing his throat. "I don't know what you're talking about. Moony said he came to warn me about this Dolores lady," he said, meeting Dumbledore's piercing blue gaze with his own electric-green one.

"Yes, that is completely correct. I did not allow him to tell you about the greater danger due to circumstances out of our control. Now, however, in the safety of this secluded meeting place, I can freely discuss many of these things with you. Hence the reason I wanted to meet you as soon as it was possible," Albus said, looking slightly apologetic.

"Makes sense, I suppose," Phantom muttered, more to himself than anything. "So, what's this bigger threat?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"I cannot reveal that information just yet. I will only be able to tell you if you agree to my terms."

'_A catch, I knew it!'_ Phantom thought sourly. "Well, what are your terms?" he asked, figuring that he had nothing to lose by finding out. He crossed his arms across his chest, feeling more irritated than nervous now.

"Everything concerning this larger threat is incredibly classified information. I could very well be sent to prison for telling you, so please forgive me."

Phantom's eyes widened at this admission and he waved a hand, gesturing for the elder male to continue.

"If you agree to come with me, I will be able to tell you everything. The only problem is that, once you arrive there, it will be far too risky to let you leave. This man has many ways of finding things, especially things he covets, so it will be for your own safety, you understand," he explained, making sure Phantom understood before continuing. "He has absolutely no way of finding the building that you will stay at if you agree, so you have nothing to fear. If you refuse my offer of protection and he finds you, he has ways to bend you to his will and use you to accomplish various nefarious deeds. So, what do you say? I will give you some time to carefully think it over," he finished, fully leaning back into his chair and observing the young half-ghost through partially closed eyes.

Albus, like Remus before, found watching Phantom very interesting. His posture, the play of emotions across his face…he really was just a teenager. A glowing one, true, but still a teenager.

After a couple of minutes had passed, Phantom sighed and slumped in the comfy armchair. "You have a really good point about that guy and what he'll do if he finds me…but how do I know that you're any better? Keeping me confined for my 'safety' sounds a lot like some kinda prison to me," he said, suspicion clear in every syllable.

"I understand your hesitance. There is another man staying at this place who is also unable to leave due to a very similar situation. He complains almost daily about being confined to the house, but he knows why he must hide and, despite his grumblings, he does what he must. I think you two would get on quite well. Remus is his best friend and you seem to have a good relationship with him - even after you found out about his secret," Albus said with a strange twinkle in his eye. He was trying to manipulate Phantom, yes, but he firmly told himself it was for the boy's own good. If he happened to make friends with Harry and Sirius that would simply be a very nice bonus.

Phantom thought about it for a little longer. _'This is far too big a thing for me to decide on my own. If I go, what'll I tell my parents? They won't miss 'The Ghost Kid' and neither will Valerie, but they WILL miss Fenton. If I do decide to go to this place for safety, I'll need to think of a reason for Fenton to suddenly disappear. But, that'll only happen if I agree. I'll have to tell this guy - since he's in charge - about me being a half-ghost…'_

The Headmaster of Hogwarts waited patiently, keeping a polite silence.

Finally, Phantom spoke. "I'll need to go back and talk this over with a couple of people. I'll tell Moony when I've made up my mind," he said firmly.

Albus sighed imperceptibly. "Yes, yes, I understand. Remember though; time is not your friend at the moment. Please try to reach a decision quickly. Do you have the device that brought you here?" Wordlessly, Phantom handed over the now-worthless rock. "Very good, thankyou. Please wait here while I reset it to send you back." With that, the old wizard strode into the hallway and, using a slight of hand, recast the Portkey spell without taking his wand out of his pocket.

Phantom narrowed his eyes a touch as Dumbledore re-entered the room. He had been very tempted to spy upon the old man, but did not have the time to move before the man returned. _'You'd think that resetting an ancient teleportation device would be tricky and take a little while…'_

"It is a surprisingly simple matter to reset this device," Albus said with a small smile, making Phantom wonder if the old man could read minds. "It will activate in a few seconds."

Phantom accepted the rock back from Dumbledore's outstretched hand. "Thanks," he said, not quite sure if he meant it sincerely or not. Tonight had been very taxing on him.

"I hope we meet again," Albus said, waving a hand in farewell.

When the pulling sensation started, Phantom was ready for it and braced himself for the jerk that followed a second after. One wild Portkey trip later, Danny landed back in his new friend's kitchen, barely managing to remain standing.

"Welcome back. So, how did it go?" Remus asked anxiously, grinning despite himself.

"It gave me a lot of things to think about," Danny answered tiredly. Now that he was no longer keyed up for anything, his body decided to remind him that it was late and he needed rest. "I need to talk a few things over with Sam and Tuck. We'll be over sometime tomorrow, okay?"

Remus nodded. "Goodnight, Danny."

"Night," he responded with a yawn. Turning intangible, to Lupin's fascination, he phased out the way he had entered. Slowly flying over both backyards, he phased into his room, landing with another yawn. Gazing about sleepily, he nodded in satisfaction that everything was exactly the way he had left it meaning that no-one had entered and noticed him gone.

He managed a tired smile, happy that he would get to sleep in tomorrow. A wave of soft warmth washed over him as the two white-blue rings turned him back into his human half. He had already been in his pyjamas, so he simply clambered into bed and snuggled deep within the covers. Sleep came quickly and Danny welcomed it gratefully.

* * *

_The wind whistled past him, ruffling his hair. It was much softer than the wind of that teleportation device had been and Danny smiled. He made a promise to himself to go flying for fun more often. He had been right before, it was a wonderful way to relieve stress._

_Looking down, he saw the lake. It was shimmering once more, the stars and moon reflecting brightly back at him as though determined to make up for the last time when they had been absent. Danny had not had this dream for a few days now and had been starting to hope that they had stopped for good. At least the dream had gone back to normal, unlike the last time where it had been more of a nightmare than anything._

_Looking forward expectantly, he saw the now-familiar silhouette of the large castle standing there majestically on the hill. It was still shrouded in darkness and Danny huffed in annoyance. Would he ever be able to make out any features on the castle? Nervously, he flicked his gaze above the castle, searching for the slitted crimson eyes. A tapestry of darkest blue, sprinkled with specks of sparkling light, was all that his eyes found. There was no trace of the hate-filled eyes and no sign of the lightning bolt that had struck them from the sky._

_Still flying toward the castle, Danny started to pray that it didn't vanish. The lake ended beneath him and he found himself flying over green grounds that looked well cared for. The castle was still there and Danny felt a bubble of hope rise within him. Was tonight the night he reached it?_

_Getting closer, Danny could make out pinpricks of light that came from the castle. A second later he realised that they were windows. Feeling more eager by the second, Danny sped up, almost desperate to reach one of the windows. As soon as his speed increased, the lights winked out and the castle started to dissolve, floating away like dust motes in the breeze._

_

* * *

_

Danny groaned as his eyelids went from black to a reddish colour. Turning away, they became black once more and Danny figured that he had left his curtain open last night. Muttering curses at the sun - feeling very much like Sam while doing so - he willed sleep to claim him again.

The sun, however, did not appreciate being ignored and its rays shone on his face, making sleep next to impossible.

Grumbling some more, Danny craned his neck up and groggily read the time that his clock was proudly displaying. "Aw man…" he moaned upon finding out that it was only about twenty past nine. _'So much for sleeping in! I was hoping to reach midday at the least!'_

Giving sleep up as a lost cause, the raven-haired teen dragged himself out of bed and wandered trance-like to the bathroom. Stripping, Danny turned on the shower and stepped in when he deemed it hot enough. Sometime later, Danny emerged from the bathroom, dressed, with damp hair. He had taken his sweet time, enjoying the warm water. Wandering down the stairs, Danny greeted his sister as he fetched breakfast for himself.

Jazz had been up for a while, sitting at the kitchen table and eating while she read her latest book. She chirped out a happy, "Hi, Danny!" before immersing herself in her book once again. Jazz had noticed that he had been going somewhere new lately, but she was waiting for him to approach her about it if it was indeed something to worry about.

"Ugh, I dunno how you do it…" he mumbled, frowning at the toast he had just set on his plate. Sitting next to Jazz, he could feel her enquiring gaze drilling into the side of his face. "It's Summer Break, Jazz! How can you be up so early reading…'Delve into the Mind: A Study of Psychology'?" he asked incredulously, having taken a moment to read the book's title.

"I, unlike you, happen to enjoy reading," Jazz sniffed, feeling a touch insulted. "There's also no reason to waste away the day by sleeping," she added, peering sternly at her younger brother.

Danny murmured unhappily for a few seconds, but not loud enough for his sister to hear. Taking a bite of his toast, he swallowed before saying, "Hey, Jazz?"

"Yes?" she answered, glancing at him. She knew something was up because he was looking everywhere but her. "Danny, is something wrong?"

"Where are mum and dad?" he asked as a reply.

"In the lab, working on some new gadget," she answered while frowning at him slightly.

"Jazz, listen…" Danny began, leaning towards her and lowering his voice. "A lot of crazy stuff has been happening over the past few days. I'll tell you all about it so you'll be up to speed when Sam and Tuck come over. I have something really important that I need to talk to you guys about because I'm gonna need your help, okay?"

Jazz Fenton nodded. "You can count on me, little bro!"

Danny smiled. "Great! So, I'll start at the beginning…"

* * *

**A/N:** I hope you liked it. I know the long waits are frustrating, but there's nothing I can do about it since I only write when I'm motivated enough. Still, I hope you consider the wait worth it in some way. I know a lot of you have been waiting for Danny to meet another wizard. I know that you've also been waiting for Dumbledore to do something. I know it's been slow going (made slower by the long waits in-between) but we got there.

**Remember!!!** - I always keep my profile page up-to-date. I have a section there where I post what chapter of which story I'm up to and how much of that chapter I've completed. If you wanna know how close I am to finishing the next chapter of ANY of my stories, head there and scroll down a short way. They're under the heading '**Story Updates**'.

Thanks to **Em Phantom** for checking over this for me. I know you said you didn't find any mistakes, but I really appreciate it all the same!

And a huge thankyou to the many people who have reviewed, put this story on favourite/alert or put ME on favourite/alert. I love you all! You guys are wonderful!

Please review this chapter if you've read it. I love feedback, it always motivates me. I'd like to know what you all think of this chapter. It's a far cry from the 1000 or so words the first chapter was, yes?


	9. A Spook in the House

**A/N:** Hello! -ducks various things thrown by angry readers- Please don't kill me! I know it's taken me over seven months to finish this, but I finished it! I finally got over my horrible writer's block after writing a whole bunch of other things: Astro Boy, Ranma ½, Inuyasha, Breath of Fire III, Fullmetal Alchemist (my new obsession!)…

So yes, after writing many things unrelated to either Danny Phantom or Harry Potter, I broke my block and finished this chapter. Still, I wouldn't expect a speedy update for the next chapter. I haven't even started it and, just because my block on this story is gone, doesn't necessarily mean I'll write any faster. Sorry, that's just the way I am.

**Disclaimer:** I want the whole DP series on DVD… If I was Butch Hartman, I'd have them already! And if I was J.K. Rowling, I'd be rich, not looking for any job in my small town that I qualify for… _Fan _fiction is written by _fans_ for _fans_. I am a _FAN_, not the owner.

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Danny will be referred to as Phantom whenever he is in ghost mode (by those who don't know he's Danny or if someone who doesn't know is around).**

**Recap:** Danny murmured unhappily for a few seconds, but not loud enough for his sister to hear. Taking a bite of his toast, he swallowed before saying, "Hey, Jazz?"

"Yes?" she answered, glancing at him. She knew something was up because he was looking everywhere but her. "Danny, is something wrong?"

"Where are Mum and Dad?" he asked as a reply.

"In the lab, working on some new gadget," she answered while frowning at him slightly.

"Jazz, listen…" Danny began, leaning towards her and lowering his voice. "A lot of crazy stuff has been happening over the past few days. I'll tell you all about it so you'll be up to speed when Sam and Tuck come over. I have something really important that I need to talk to you guys about because I'm gonna need your help, okay?"

Jazz Fenton nodded. "You can count on me, little bro!"

Danny smiled. "Great! So, I'll start at the beginning…"

* * *

**Chapter Nine: A Spook in the House**

Jazz frowned, deep in thought. Danny had told her everything - even about Remus being a werewolf - and she had been going over it all in her mind; looking at it from every angle she could imagine.

The two had moved up to Danny's room just in case their parents came up from the lab and heard something they shouldn't have. Danny was sitting on his hastily made bed, one leg bent towards him like he was sitting cross-legged while the other hung over the edge. Jazz had taken his desk chair and was swinging it to and fro ever so slightly.

Jazz had interrupted him many times, making him explain things thoroughly, but he dealt with it as patiently as he could. Her help would be invaluable. Having strained his patience so much already, he found the last of it quickly running out the longer Jasmine sat there thinking.

Finally Jazz looked up. "Gee, Danny, I can't leave you alone for five minutes without you getting yourself mixed up in something, can I?"

"Argh, not funny, Jazz! Are you gonna help or not?" he snapped back.

"Yes, of course I am!" she retorted. "I am glad you came to me about this," she continued in a softer tone.

Danny opted not to say anything to that and simply stared at her.

"You know I worry about you! You're always off somewhere doing something and it's rare that you come back unhurt! Now you have some other guy after you that's supposedly more dangerous than _Vlad _and -"

Thankfully for Danny, Jazz's tirade was broken when Sam and Tucker let themselves into his room. They exchanged the usual greetings and found places to sit. Sam joined Danny on the bed while Tucker leaned his back against it, sitting on the floor.

"I told Jazz everything," Danny said before the other two had a chance to ask why she was there. "I need her help - and yours - for something."

* * *

A weary group of teens slumped wherever they could fit comfortably. The room was a bit small for all of them, but they managed to squeeze in well enough.

"It seems like the old man's finally made a move," George said.

"About time, too, we've been waiting forever!" Ron complained, throwing his hands in the air for extra emphasis.

"Forever?" Hermione repeated incredulously. "It's only been a week!"

Ron rolled his eyes at her. "It's just an expression, Hermione. Even though it's felt like a whole lot longer than a week…" he said, mumbling the last part under his breath so that Hermione couldn't hear.

"I wonder what this Phantom guy's like," Fred pondered aloud.

"He'd be a great prankster with those powers," George added absently.

The twins cracked identical grins and turned to each other. It was plain to see what they were thinking about as they both had a mischievous look about them.

Hermione gave them a stern, disappointed frown, Ginny sighed in resignation while Harry and Ron tried their best to stay out of it and refrain from laughing. If Phantom came to Grimmauld Place and agreed to play pranks with the twins, it did not bode well for everyone else in the ancient and noble house of Black.

"I doubt a highly powerful spiritual being is going to be interested in playing immature tricks with you pair," Hermione declared, letting everybody know her thoughts on the matter.

"Lupin said he acted like a teenager, though," Ginny piped up, examining her fingernails to avoid looking at the irate girl.

"Our chances of getting to him to join us in our never-ending quest don't seem bad at all, do they, George?"

"No, they look quite good indeed, Fred."

Hermione crossed her arms and fell silent, wishing that boys in general were more mature.

* * *

As soon as he finished relating all that had happened last night, Danny fell backwards until he was lying down. It was a rather lengthy explanation and he was tired of talking; he had talked far too much for his liking already and it wasn't even midday yet. With his head resting on his pillow, Danny closed his eyes to try and ward off the headache that was forming.

"Wow, dude, how do you keep getting yourself into these situations?" Tucker spoke after a few moments of shocked silence.

"If I knew that, don't you think I'd be able to avoid them altogether?" Danny asked in reply.

"Oh yeah…"

Sam was frowning, deep in thought. "So you want our help in making a decision, right?"

"Yeah, this is too big for me to decide by myself." Danny forced himself to sit back up and looked at everyone, wondering what they were thinking.

Jazz stared straight at her younger brother. "It sounds as though going to this place is your only option. Even though you're not a ghost all of the time, someone's bound to catch you sooner or later. The problem with that is the fact that we don't know where this place is, how we'll be able to contact each other and if they're even trustworthy in the first place!"

"If you do go, won't you have to tell them about being a half-ghost? Who knows how long you'll be there for and you can't stay in ghost mode the entire time," said Sam.

"I know," Danny said, looking a little torn. "This is why I needed your help."

"What if you set your own conditions for going?" Jazz suddenly asked.

Danny blinked in confusion before saying, "Huh?"

Jazz sighed before launching into her own explanation. "What I mean is; only agree to go if they agree to _your_ terms."

"I have terms?"

It took a lot of her willpower, but Jazz managed to restrain her urge to hit her little brother over the head. "Of course you do! You can say that you'll only agree to stay there for a set amount of time or something."

"Uh…Jazz, didn't you hear me when I said that the old man told me that once I was there, I couldn't leave because it was too risky?" Danny asked, frowning lightly at his sister.

"Too bad," Jazz retorted, showing a streak of Fenton stubbornness. "Tell him you'll _only_ go there for the summer and _only_ if I go with you. That should be plenty of time for this creep's interest to blow over and you should be able to keep your secret safe."

Danny stared wide-eyed at his sister, a multitude of thoughts flashing through his mind. "What do you mean my secret will be safe if you come with?"

"Yeah," Tucker interjected, "how does that work?"

"Well, if you have me with you, it'll mean that they have to find me a room and feed me, therefore allowing you a room and food! With me there sharing my room and food with you, no-one will get suspicious if food disappears and a bed is slept in. Of course, we'll have to make sure that the room has two beds and that they give me more food than necessary…" she explained, trailing off at the end while her eyes glazed over; lost in thought.

Danny swiftly shook his head, setting his raven locks swinging through the air. "No, Jazz, I can't ask you to come with me. You've got far too much to do here."

"Then take Sam and Tucker!" she shot back. "I think you should go to keep safe, but I'm not letting you go alone!"

Sam and Tucker had stayed mostly silent during the siblings' exchange. It was never good to be in the middle of a Fenton fight - verbal or otherwise. Now, however, they had been dragged into it by the elder Fenton sibling and had no choice but to participate in the conversation.

This stopped Danny short. _'Could I really take Sam and Tucker? We can pretend it will be a summer-long vacation. I'd feel a whole lot better if I had my two best friends with me wherever this safe-house is. Couldn't hurt to try, could it?'_

Jazz could see her brother seriously considering her words and she felt as though a weight had lifted from her.

"Well, what do you guys think?" Danny asked his friends. This was their decision, not his, after all.

Tucker looked thoughtful. "It'd be an interesting summer vacation, wouldn't it?" was all he said. He was actually floundering a little with deciding. He wanted to make sure his best pal stayed safe and, if he could help, he would. _'But the whole summer? Do I really want to spend this important time who-knows-where doing who-knows-what? What'll happen to all the girls that will miss me?'_

Sam, however, had no hesitation about leaving with Danny. _'I'll be away from my parents the entire summer! Not only that, but I'll be spending it with Danny! What more could I ask for? Well, besides getting rid of the whole "evil guy out to get Danny" thing…'_

Danny sat there, looking anxiously at his friends while waiting for them to say something. He didn't notice the faint blush that had stained Sam's cheeks for a moment.

"I'll go with you," Sam said without a trace of doubt in her voice.

Her obvious conviction made Danny feel better about the whole situation he found himself in. He looked at Tucker.

"Count me in," the African-American boy said after a moment or two. "I'll have to clear it with my parents first, but I'm sure they'll agree."

"Great! I'll go let Moony know about the terms, okay?" Trying not to let his immense relief show on his face, Danny quickly transformed and flew through the wall.

"Wait, shouldn't we come with you?!" Jazz shouted at the wall.

Danny suddenly phased his head and shoulders back through the wall. "Oh, yeah…oops! I told Moony last night that, well, us three would be over there sometime," he said sheepishly, pointing at himself and sweeping his hand at Sam and Tucker. "I never mentioned Jazz, so he's got no idea that you're now involved."

"Then isn't that even more of a reason for me to go with you and meet him?" argued Jazz calmly.

"Uh, I guess so…"

With that decided, Danny fully phased back into the room, changed back, and the group of four made their way out of the Fenton residence. During the short walk to Remus' front door, Danny could feel Jazz snatching glances at him. The feeling of eyes falling on you was annoying and slightly creepy, but Danny knew she was simply being his worried, overprotective older sister.

This time it was Sam who knocked on the old door.

After a few long moments, the door finally creaked open to reveal a tired-looking Lupin. He blinked blearily at them, his gaze lingering on Jazz for a second longer, before he stepped back saying, "Come in."

Seated at the now-familiar meeting place, meaning the kitchen table, Remus dragged out an extra chair from somewhere for Jazz. Once everyone was seated relatively comfortably, Remus cleared his throat. "Hello again, you three. I do not, however, know who you are, miss…?"

"Jasmine Fenton, Jazz for short. I'm Danny's sister," the orange-haired girl said, shaking hands with the ex-professor.

"Ah, of course, it's nice to meet you, Jazz. Has Danny told you the situation?"

Jazz, Sam and Tucker all nodded, giving affirmative mumbles.

"Have you come to a decision?" he asked the young half-ghost.

Danny nodded, but shifted a little in his chair. "I'll go on certain conditions," he said, making Jazz smile at him proudly.

Remus raised an eyebrow, but inclined his head, inviting Danny to continue.

"Okay, first thing: I'm only going to stay there for the summer break. I have school and I can't miss it as my grades are bad enough," the teen said, sounding as stern as he could but grinning sheepishly at his admission.

"Second," Sam butted in, "Danny only goes if Tucker and I go as well. He wants to keep his secret as secret as it can be kept, and the only way to do that is if we go with him for cover. Agreed?" she finished, pinning the werewolf with an icy stare that dared him to argue with her.

'_Tricky terms…I'll have to contact Dumbledore right away and see what he thinks as this is out of my hands,'_ Remus thought. He was thankful that Dumbledore had foreseen that something like this may happen and, therefore, had arranged for Fawkes to return to Lupin's house that night; two days earlier than originally planned.

"Well?" Jazz prompted in a slightly bossy tone.

"I'll have to relay your terms to my boss. I'll let you know as soon as I have an answer. Is that acceptable?" he asked the group of teens.

"Yes, I suppose so," the eldest teen answered blithely.

"Excellent," Remus said.

* * *

For Remus, the day had passed in a mainly uneventful manner. The four teens had really only stayed long enough to illustrate what they wanted when he wrote out a draft copy of his letter. Then they had left and he was alone with nothing to do but wait for Fawkes. Stretching his stiff shoulders, visions of a long, sunny vacation began to plague him once more.

After the long hours had finally dragged by, a flash and a soft screech heralded the arrival of Fawkes. After checking that all the blinds and curtains were shut, the werewolf called the phoenix down to the lounge room. The fire-bird heeded the call and winged his way down, softly alighting on one of the lounge's arms.

"Here you go, Fawkes, an urgent delivery for Dumbledore," he told the bird, holding out the rolled-up letter and letting Fawkes latch his talons around it.

With a farewell cry, the phoenix disappeared in a flash of flame.

"And now I have to wait again…" Remus mumbled in an exasperated tone.

* * *

"Are we done yet?"

"Ron, the cupboard's only half-empty."

"…why is this taking so long, Hermione?"

"Because we need to be extremely careful with everything in here. It could all be dangerous in some way; powders, charms, curses; we have to watch out for them."

"Yeah, I get that. I know we're being careful, but this is still taking forever! Why are we cleaning everything like Muggles then? Wouldn't it be safer and easier to remove these things with a quick spell?"

"Sometimes, Ron, I swear…!"

"Easy, Hermione," Harry said. "We can't do that, Ron; it might set off a reaction. Sorry, mate, but its elbow grease all the way."

The redhead of the trio gave an unhappy sigh. "I'll never get how Muggles live without magic."

Harry grinned and replied, "Quite easily."

Just as the three turned back to the cupboard to start cleaning the other half, the door behind them banged open, making all three jump in surprise. Turning to look at the door, the trio found Fred and George standing there with identical satisfied smiles. The twins closed the door and jauntily walked over to the trio, looking for all the world like co-conspirators in some plot.

"Please tell me you two are here to take over for us," Ron moaned, staring pleadingly at his brothers.

"So sorry, Ickle Ronniekins, but we came not for such triviality!" Fred said grandly, sweeping a hand out dramatically and almost hitting George in the head.

George, who had managed to duck his twin's arm, drew himself up, puffing out his chest like a snobbish noble. "Indeed not, how could you even think such a thing? We come bearing news most interesting, and thought to be generous and share it with you common folk," George said, adopting a regal air.

"Mr. Potter excluded, I suppose," Fred said dismissively.

"I suppose," added George, uncaring.

Ron was getting irritated by the twins' behaviour and angrily threw his cleaning rag at them, barely missing George's head. "If you're not here to help, then hurry up, tell us this news and get out!"

"Well, I never!" George said loudly, acting highly affronted.

"If the rabble's getting _that_ restless, I guess we might have to withdraw our generosity," Fred said, rolling his eyes at his little brother and sniffing in disdain.

Harry, on a sudden whim, decided to play along with the twins. He was really curious to hear what they had to say and knew that it was possibly the only way to get them to tell at this point. "Please forgive my dear friend; his curiosity seems to have gotten the better of his patience. We would be most grateful to hear your news," he said, bowing slightly. He was unable to hide his grin.

"Finally, the proper respect!" George exclaimed, winking at Harry.

"In that case, we'll tell you," said Fred, both of them dropping the noble act and sitting in front of the trio.

'_Boys…!'_ Hermione thought in exasperation, barely able to stop herself from saying it aloud.

Fred cleared his throat and looked at the trio as though he was a wise, old storyteller. "We were getting hungry, so we decided to see what the kitchen had to offer."

"Once we reached the doorway, we saw a strange flash," George said, taking up the tale. "It looked like fire and the only thing we know that makes that kind of flash-"

"Is Fawkes," Fred finished.

"Fawkes? Then there's news about Phantom!" Harry said, looking excited.

Fred frowned. "Who's telling this, me or you?" he asked sarcastically. Harry waved for him to continue and Fred obliged. "Yes, there's news about Phantom. We overheard our mother reading the letter to Sirius. It was from Dumbledore, Lupin got in contact with him about Phantom. Apparently Phantom's agreed to come here on a few conditions; Phantom wants a couple of his human buddies to stay here with him."

"Dumbledore's a bit iffy about it, so he asked Mum if we had the room and food to spare and if Sirius would mind the intrusion. Another of the conditions was that Phantom and his friends will only stay here for what they call 'Summer Break'," George said, leaning in a little while lowering his voice.

"Did Sirius and Mrs. Weasley agree?" asked Harry.

"Well, you know what Mum's like," Fred said with a shrug, "couldn't refuse. 'The poor dear doesn't want to be away from his haunting grounds too long and I don't blame him for not wanting to come someplace he knows nothing about by himself!'" he added in an uncanny imitation of his mother's voice.

Hermione was quiet, thinking hard. "I wonder how long this break of theirs is. If it's longer than a month, then they'll still be here when we go to Hogwarts," she said, saying it aloud mostly to see if the others picked up on what she was getting at.

"So? It's not like they'll be lonely with Mum, Dad, Sirius and whoever else around," said Ron.

"But don't you see? That's exactly it, they'll be around here when we aren't," she said as though verbally trying to push something through their heads.

Fred and George suddenly stared at Hermione as though the bushy-haired girl had grown another head.

"My, my, Hermione… Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" George asked in a scandalised tone.

"If you're thinking that she's thinking the same thing you're thinking, which, if it's what I think you're thinking… Bloody brilliant!" Fred exclaimed, grinning at Hermione proudly.

Ron turned to Harry with an expression that went beyond confused, and asked, "Did you catch that?"

Harry shook his head and returned the expression. "Nope."

"Oh, Harry, we had such high hopes for you!" George said in a sad, yet dramatic way. Both twins shook their heads at their fellow mischief maker.

"What are you on about?" Ron asked, getting annoyed again.

"It's quite simple, really," said Fred. "What happens is this: we make friends with Phantom and his pals. Then, while we're at Hogwarts-"

"We get them to spy on the Order and keep us informed!" George finished. "It should be a snap if Phantom does the spying. That is what you were thinking, right?" he said, directing the question to the only female in the room.

Hermione nodded at the twins before turning to the two befuddled boys. "Yes, that's exactly right. I doubt anyone is really going to keep us informed about the Order's movements considering that they won't let us join. If we could find some way to keep in contact with Phantom - if he agrees to spy for us - then we won't need to worry about wondering what the Order's up to," she explained.

Ron and Harry stared at her in amazement before breaking out in grins.

"Great idea!" exclaimed Harry, looking very enthusiastic at the prospect of not being left out of the Order's movements.

"Hermione, you're a bloody genius, do you know that?" Ron said in awe, beaming at her.

Hermione Granger simply smiled, fighting down a small blush.

* * *

Danny, Sam, Tucker and Jazz were once again seated at the table in Lupin's kitchen. Tucker had his PDA out and was making sure to keep track of all the information concerning Umbridge, her Aurors and what was happening with this trip to a safe-house. He had all relevant information stored in a heavily protected, password-encoded folder, right next to another folder that held all of their ghost files.

They had come to hear Dumbledore's answer regarding the conditions Danny had set. Jazz had been surprised at such a quick communication system considering that Remus and his boss wrote letters instead of using a phone or sending an e-mail. Remus had assured her that they had a special mail delivery service that was very efficient, and that they used letters to try and minimise their security being compromised. It was true enough.

Tucker had asked if their database had been hacked before and Remus, who had no idea what Tucker had said, simply told him that they didn't have a database. Tucker looked scandalised at the fact that they didn't use modern technology even though Jazz thought it was smart.

"Here's the deal," Remus said, deciding to be blunt and get straight to the heart of the matter. "A couple of people were contacted by my boss and they agreed to your conditions."

All four teenagers immediately perked up at this.

"Sam, Tucker and _Phantom_ will all be staying in the one room," he went on, placing careful stress on Danny's ghostly alias, "as this serves two purposes. It'll allow the people there to keep an eye on all of you better and will hopefully make your stay a bit more comfortable than if you were in separate rooms or staying in a room with someone already there. If you have any objections, they can be sorted out once you arrive and get a feel for the place. Is that acceptable?"

"Doesn't sound so bad," said Tucker, unconsciously voicing all of their thoughts.

Sam nodded absently. "Now all we need is a good excuse to tell our parents why we'll be gone for the whole break."

Jazz frowned a bit in thought while Danny and Tucker grimaced.

"Luckily for you guys, I thought of something last night in case they did agree and the three of us were going," Sam said, a strange half-smile, half-smirk adorning her face.

"Oh?" Jazz said inquisitively.

"It's simple: we have a mutual internet friend that has invited all three of us over to stay for the summer break. They'll take care of all of the expenses and travel details, our friend's just waiting for us to get permission," Sam said, looking pleased with herself.

Danny and Tucker were staring at the gothic girl as though she had told them the meaning of life; eyes wide and unblinking and mouths hanging open. Jazz deftly reached over and put a couple of fingers under their chins, forcing their mouths closed with a small click of their teeth.

"Flies aren't a healthy and nutritious part of any diet," she said with a carefully blank face, sitting back and trying not to let her mask crack from the giggles she was struggling to hold in.

Remus blinked and let a tiny smile grace his face. _'These guys act a lot like Harry, Ron and Hermione. I think they would all get along rather well.'_ Of course, for Remus to find out if he was right, all of their parents would have to agree. "Are you going to ask your parents today?" he asked, drawing the teens' attention back to him. "The quicker we sort things out, the better."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point there," said Danny, who sighed as he slowly stood, pushing the chair back a short ways.

"I think it's best if I ask my parents while you two aren't there," Sam said a little hesitantly, ashamed of the way her parents regarded her best friends.

Danny nodded in understanding. "Why don't we split up, ask our parents, and meet back here?" Sam and Tucker agreed, and they all bid Remus a brief goodbye, going in three separate directions once they were out his door.

Remus was left, once again, waiting. His left eye twitched.

* * *

Dinner at Grimmauld Place was the usual affair. The flash of fire that appeared above the middle of the table halfway through the meal was something different, along with the solitary gold-tinged red feather and sealed roll of parchment.

Quickly getting over the surprise, Sirius snatched up the roll of parchment right before it hit the tabletop. He broke the wax seal and let his eyes scan the parchment's contents.

"What is it, Sirius?" Molly asked anxiously, hoping with all of her heart that whatever the news was, it wasn't bad.

"Is it from Dumbledore?" asked Arthur, almost as anxious as his wife. He shot a quick glance at the teenagers, wondering if it was Order business that they were not allowed to be privy to.

Sirius nodded.

"What's it say?" Ron asked impatiently. Hermione would have jabbed him with her elbow for being rude, but she, too, was curious.

"Dumbledore says that everything's been finalised. We'll have three more guests tomorrow; two boys and a girl. One of the boys is Phantom and the other two are his friends, the ones Dumbledore asked you about Molly," he said, briefly looking up at the Weasley matriarch before returning his attention to the letter.

Molly simply nodded to show she understood. "Dumbledore thought it would be best if they all stayed in the one room, so we'll have to clean another one out and make sure there's enough furniture in there. That can be your job for tomorrow," she said, staring hard at Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny, as though daring them to object. Molly planned to make Fred and George finish cleaning out the room that the others had been working on.

Wisely, none of them did object, though they didn't look very enthusiastic.

The meal continued as though there had been no interruption, and everybody started filing off to bed after a while. Since they had already covered the topic quite thoroughly, there was not much conversation between the younger denizens of Grimmauld Place and they fell asleep fairly quickly.

Straight after they had finished their breakfast, Molly ushered Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny into a room that had yet to be touched by any of the cleaning crew. The room was fairly large, enough for three beds to be squeezed in, though it was not habitable by any stretch of the imagination. Cobwebs clung thickly to almost every surface, partially hidden by the respectable amount of dust that coated the entire room. There were two beds already in the room along with a couple of dressers.

The four teens stared in horror, only snapping back to reality when they heard the door click shut, signalling Molly's departure. Harry, being used to this far more than the others, heaved a sigh of resignation and, gripping an old cleaning rag tightly, stepped forward. The others followed half-heartedly, Ron muttering the entire time.

Around three or four hours later, Molly fetched them for lunch. The room wasn't exactly clean yet, but it was habitable now at least. The first thing they had cleaned was all the furniture. After that, the walls had been attacked. They had yet to start on the ceiling.

* * *

Three teens and an adult, along with an assortment of luggage stacked onto a trolley with wheels, stood in a nondescript alley somewhere in London. One of the teens gave off a fairly bright glow that seemed to emanate from his body, lighting up the dark alley and making the adult swear slightly under his breath. Taking off a rather shabby black cloak, the man threw it around the teen and pulled up the hood, the long garment trailing on the ground and effectively hiding the glow.

"Sorry, Phantom, but your glow isn't exactly subtle," Remus said while fishing three strips of cloth out of one of his trouser pockets, leaving the little rune-engraved Portkey in their place. He handed them to each teen, instructing them to put them on.

"You're blindfolding us?!" Sam asked incredulously.

Remus hurriedly shushed her. "I have to. Trust me, it's for safety reasons. It's the only way I'll be able to bring you into the house. Don't worry, you only have to wear them until we're inside," he said consolingly.

None of the teens were comfortable with it, but they complied. Remus checked the blindfolds, making sure each one was tied securely. As soon as Danny had pulled the hood back over his head, Remus got them to link hands as he led them towards the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. He got Danny to turn all four of them invisible before they left the relative shelter of the alley.

Tucker, being on the end of the four person line, was left to haul the trolley. Despite being invisible, the trolley did not weigh any less and Tucker whined under his breath about doing all the hard work. The heel of Sam's combat boot met his toes and he quieted down.

It was a short walk; Dumbledore had asked Remus to set the Portkey to the alley closest to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. A mere minute or so later, Remus discreetly whipped out his wand and tapped the door on the newly materialised building, the multiple locks inside sliding open. With a whispered warning to keep their voices down, Remus led them inside; quietly closing the door once the luggage was over the threshold.

He whispered to the half-ghost to drop the invisibility. Remus had no wish to wake up Mrs. Black, so he ushered the teens into the kitchen before allowing them to take off their blindfolds. The Weaselys, Sirius, Harry and Hermione were all in the kitchen, halfway through lunch, though their food was instantly forgotten at the sight of the new arrivals.

Phantom, Sam and Tucker blinked against the sudden light, though their eyes quickly adjusted and they looked around curiously.

"Oh, Remus, it's good to see you again," Molly said. "And you three must be Sam, Tucker and Phantom," she added, smiling warmly at the teens.

"Could I have my cloak back, please, Phantom?" Remus asked with a slight chuckle.

"Huh? Oh, uh, sure," Phantom replied. He had actually forgotten that he was wearing it once the blindfold had been taken off; his mind busy taking everything in. He swept the hood back so he could see the cloak's clasp easier. A multitude of startled gasps greeted this action and Phantom froze, wondering what was wrong.

Mrs. Weasley sniffed, trying hard to remember what Arthur had told her about seeing Phantom as a teenager and not a ghost. It was hard; her motherly instincts were kicking into overdrive, telling her to comfort him in any way she could, though she dared not move in case she frightened him more than he already looked.

Sam glowered at everybody, wondering if they knew that it was rude to stare while Tucker stood beside her, looking a little lost.

Phantom noticed that everyone was staring at him. His electric green eyes widened in surprise before he frowned a moment later. "What?" he asked in a typical annoyed teenager fashion.

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, they are finally at Headquarters and face-to-face with 'The Golden Trio'! Took a while, but we got there. They've seen each other, but they haven't really _met_ yet. That'll obviously happen next chapter. If I get any threats over this, I'm gonna curl up on my bed and not write a thing! Beware, you have been warned!

-If any of you catch the fact that I use the letter 's' instead of 'z' for words like minimise, such as my beta did, I'd like to take this opportunity to inform you all that I am Australian and that's the way we spell such words. So no, I'm spelling things correctly.

My nan was gone for over a month, staying at a hospital in a city a couple of hours away for a month before coming back to the hospital here. I've been incredibly stressed over the whole ordeal. My nan had a strange cancerous-like mass removed a few years ago, but it's come back. No-one knows exactly what it is and the father of my closest friend only recently passed away due to cancer, so I've been unable to sleep very well and crying at random moments when the stress becomes too much.

I've found it incredibly difficult to concentrate on my TAFE work, so it's a miracle that I've been able to write anything at all… So please, _please_ don't pester me about updating. I'll get there when I get there and not before.

**Remember!!!** - I always keep my profile page up-to-date. I have a section there where I post what chapter of which story I'm up to and how much of that chapter I've completed. If you wanna know how close I am to finishing the next chapter of ANY of my stories, head there and scroll down a short way. They're under the heading '**Story Updates**'.

Many heartfelt thanks to all of you who have reviewed and/or put this story on fav/alert! It's very encouraging and pushes me to do better. Please review and let me know what you think. Has the quality of my writing improved, slipped, stayed fairly constant?

~Fantomo


	10. Breaking the Ice

**A/N:** Hey everyone! I'm not going to mince words. The past year or so has been horrible for me. My grandma was sick; she broke her ankle, her hip and couldn't live at home when she finally got out of the hospital. She had cancer and had about a year left, but caught pneumonia. She was gone 2 days after that and I was _sitting right beside her._ I _watched_ her die. I now understand what Harry went through with Cedric a lot better. I apologise for the long wait, but I hope you understand.

So, while I knew I had many people waiting for an update for this, I can honestly say it was not on top of my list of priorities for a while. Even before my grandma got sick I had lost all motivation to write this. I was sick of Harry Potter and had let Danny Phantom fade from my mind. I still like HP, just not the last book/movies. I've also been re-watching DP and have rediscovered my love for it. So, for the last few days, in between various projects and half a dozen chapters I have to beta for others, I've been writing.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own either of these works. I would not be searching for Region 4 DP DVDs otherwise. –grumbles-

"Speech"

'_Thoughts'_

**Danny will be referred to as Phantom whenever he is in ghost mode (by those who don't know he's Danny or if someone who doesn't know is around).**

**Recap:** He whispered to the half-ghost to drop the invisibility. Remus had no wish to wake up Mrs. Black, so he ushered the teens into the kitchen before allowing them to take off their blindfolds. The Weasleys, Sirius, Harry and Hermione were all in the kitchen, halfway through lunch, though their food was instantly forgotten at the sight of the new arrivals.

Phantom, Sam and Tucker blinked against the sudden light, though their eyes quickly adjusted and they looked around curiously.

"Oh, Remus, it's good to see you again," Molly said. "And you three must be Sam, Tucker and Phantom," she added, smiling warmly at the teens.

"Could I have my cloak back, please, Phantom?" Remus asked with a slight chuckle.

"Huh? Oh, uh, sure," Phantom replied. He had actually forgotten that he was wearing it once the blindfold had been taken off; his mind busy taking everything in. He swept the hood back so he could see the cloak's clasp easier. A multitude of startled gasps greeted this action and Phantom froze, wondering what was wrong.

Mrs. Weasley sniffed, trying hard to remember what Arthur had told her about seeing Phantom as a teenager and not a ghost. It was hard; her motherly instincts were kicking into overdrive, telling her to comfort him in any way she could, though she dared not move in case she frightened him more than he already looked.

Sam glowered at everybody, wondering if they knew that it was rude to stare while Tucker stood beside her, looking a little lost.

Phantom noticed that everyone was staring at him. His electric green eyes widened in surprise before he frowned a moment later. "What?" he asked in a typical annoyed teenager fashion.

* * *

**Chapter Ten: Breaking the Ice**

For a few moments, no-one moved or said anything and only people's breathing could be heard. Phantom wished he had a pin with him to see how loudly he would be able to hear it hit the floor. Getting a sudden idea, Phantom used his ice powers to form a tiny sliver of ice about the size of a regular sewing needle inside his partially curled fist. He let it go, feeling rather satisfied at the chime-like ping it made when it hit the floor. Everybody jumped a bit at the small chime as it echoed throughout the silent room.

"Wow, I guess they really mean it when they say it's so quiet you can hear a pin drop," Phantom commented casually, his amused gaze telling Sam and Tucker exactly what he had done.

Tucker grinned at his friend while Sam shook her head. "Phantom…" she said in a vaguely warning tone, mindful to use his alias.

"Sorry, Sam, I couldn't resist," he muttered sheepishly.

"I can see that we're going to get along _just fine_," Fred said, grinning widely at his other half.

"Indeed we are," George said, grinning back.

Molly turned to her two prank-loving sons and clucked her tongue in disapproval. "Putting up with the pranks you pair pull is bad enough! I don't want you dragging our guests into any of your mischief-making, am I making myself perfectly clear?"

Fred and George mockingly saluted her, the grins not leaving their faces. Their mother was left with no doubt in her mind that they would try something.

Remembering that he was supposed to be giving Remus back his cloak, Phantom quickly took it off and handed it to its rightful owner. He received a "Thanks," in reply, that small word somehow managing to shatter the rest of the shocked atmosphere.

"My name is Molly Weasley. Are any of you hungry?" Molly asked. Remus looked a touch sickly, as usual, but the three teens seemed a bit on the small, underfed side, much like Harry whenever he came from his Aunt and Uncle's house.

"Do you have any meat?" Tucker quickly asked.

Sam whirled upon her friend. "You already had a couple of hamburgers not long before we left! How many more animals do you plan to eat today?" she huffed angrily.

Phantom smacked a palm to his face and gave a resigned sigh. Feeling curious about what the twins had meant by their words earlier, he walked over until he was standing directly behind them. "Hi, I'm Phantom," he said, giving them a small smile instead of a handshake. "What, exactly, did you mean when you said we'll get along just fine?"

"You're not adverse to a bit of innocent mischief now and then, are you?" George asked.

Phantom thought back to all the pranks he had pulled since he had received his ghostly powers, and even before then. "Uh, no, can't say that I am. What does that have to do with anything?" he asked in genuine curiosity.

"Well, you see-" Fred began.

"They want you to play pranks with them," Hermione butted in. "They think you'd be great at pulling them off if you can really do the things Lupin said in his letter," she elaborated, fixing the twins with a stare full of distaste.

"Oh, is that all? If you want to know, I _am_ pretty good at pulling pranks," Phantom said with only a trace of bragging tone in his statement. "I try not to. More often than not it leads you into bigger trouble that goes way over your head," he added, recalling the whole fiasco with Sydney Pointdexter.

Hermione had been frowning at first, but found herself smiling at his words near the end of his mini speech. "Oh, how rude of me, I'm Hermione Granger," she said quickly, holding out her hand.

Phantom shook it, but let go after a second. He knew that he felt cold to everybody else when he was like this. It made him feel a bit alienated, but he had learned to cope with it long ago.

For her part, Hermione was fascinated. She stared at her hand as though she had never seen it before. Phantom was looking at her oddly, possibly contemplating her current mental state, and turned to her two best friends in an effort to distract himself from her strange behaviour.

One had flaming red hair and freckles, and bore a striking resemblance to Molly and the prankster twins whose names he didn't know. _'Definitely related,'_ Phantom thought. The other was fairly thin with messy black hair and bright green eyes behind a pair of glasses.

"Don't mind Hermione, she's just never even read about a ghost like you," Harry said, managing to sound slightly apologetic.

Ron nodded beside Harry. "If it's not in a book, Hermione has a hard time coming to terms with things. She reckons the library has an answer to everything. I'm Ron Weasley, and those two," he added, pointedly nodding at the twins, "are Fred and George."

"Harry Potter," the Boy-Who-Lived said, waiting for one of the customary reactions that his name triggered. He was pleasantly surprised when Phantom showed no sign of acknowledging his celebrity status.

"Phantom," the halfa said with a smile. He inclined his head toward his meat-loving friend, who had taken a seat and was being served a few sausages by Mrs. Weasley, "That's Tucker Foley, and my other friend is-"

"Sam Manson," the gothic girl interrupted, making him jump a bit. She had walked up to stand half behind, half beside Phantom. He hadn't been expecting her to suddenly be there like that.

Now that their guests were actually there, Molly hustled Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny back upstairs to finish cleaning the room as soon as the last morsel of food was cleared off each of their plates. When Sam asked her why there was such a rush to get the room clean, Molly admitted that the house needed a good, thorough cleaning and they had only originally cleaned enough rooms for everybody already there.

Sam didn't think it was quite fair that the four British teens had to clean out a room that was meant for her, Tucker and Danny, and announced that she would help. After glowering at Tucker, who was too busy shovelling food into his face to notice anything else, she turned the glower to Phantom. Fearing Sam's wrath, Phantom agreed to help as well.

The four British teens led the way up the stairs after a quickly whispered warning to keep the noise down on the staircase. Sam and Phantom were perplexed at the warning, but acquiesced. Once they reached their room-to-be, neither could hold in a small gasp.

"We only started cleaning this room this morning and, as you can see, we never finished," Hermione said in a vaguely sheepish tone.

The room looked many times better than it had before they had started to turn it habitable, but the ceiling was still thick with dust and cobwebs and the walls were not completely free of them either. The furniture looked respectable and all the pillows, pillowcases and sheets had been removed and replaced. The old ones were awaiting a harsh scrubbing at the hands of Mrs. Weasley.

"Wow, I'd hate to see what this room looked like before you started," Phantom commented absently, staring in awe.

Sam immediately elbowed him in the ribs. Hard. She ignored his pained exclamation and turned to the British teens. "We really appreciate the fact that you went to so much effort like this. I'll go and drag Tucker up here and all three of us will lend you a hand."

Phantom straightened up once Sam left the room and glared sullenly at the empty doorway, rubbing the spot she had hit gingerly. Fast ghostly healing powers aside, when Sam hit someone it _hurt_. Lots.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I heal fast. Sam just hits really hard." His feet suddenly left the ground and he slowly floated up to the ceiling. "Let's see if I can do something about this…" he muttered loud enough for the others to hear. He placed a hand on a patch of the roof and swatted the cobwebs aside to reveal the wooden panelling. He put his gloved hand on the wood and concentrated on turning the roof intangible.

Intangibility was a tricky thing. You were only able to go through what you had initially turned intangible for unless you changed your focus. When he had first fought the Lunch Lady, he had turned intangible to avoid hitting a wall after she had caught him with a full-body blow. His body had gone half through the wall by the time his inertia was spent, though he had then thudded solidly onto the floor while still intangible.

Phantom was trying to turn the room's ceiling intangible, but only to let the dust and webs fall. He didn't want any furniture from the room above falling on them. The wood turned a see-through, pale white-blue colour and all the dust and cobwebs fell down.

Of course, Phantom had forgotten that by cleaning the roof, all the muck would fall over everything else, including himself and the British teens. He coughed and looked down, trying in vain to hide his sheepish expression.

"Uh, oops?"

Not one of the British teens had said a word, so Phantom quickly touched back down and began turning everything dusty intangible until the whole room was spotless. All except the floor.

Sam returned, tugging Tucker along behind her, but stopped only one step past the doorway with her mouth open.

"Whoa, you didn't get split in half and kidnap their vacuum cleaner, did you?" Tucker asked, looking around the room. "Sam told me it needed some major cleaning!"

"Part of it still does," Ginny remarked, eyeing her web and dust-laden clothes appraisingly before sparing the floor a glance.

"Uh, let me fix that for you," Phantom said quickly, walking over and turning each of them intangible before doing the same to himself. He was about to turn the floor intangible, to drop the mess into the room below, but Ginny grabbed his arm and pulled him back a few centimetres.

Ginny shook her head. "I think we should clean the floor the old-fashioned way," she said.

"Yes, I think that might be for the best," Sam said, making Phantom fidget a bit under her unrelenting gaze. He shrugged helplessly.

"What's a vacuum cleaner?" asked Ron.

"Oh honestly," Hermione muttered. "I'll tell you later."

The tips of Ron's ears and his cheeks flushed red as the three Americans looked at him strangely. "More cleaning," he said in a flat tone, doing his utmost to ignore the strangers.

"It won't kill you," Ginny stated.

"I'll go and get some dustpans," Harry said. He squeezed past Sam and Tucker and went quickly down the stairs, remembering to keep quiet so as not to wake something best left asleep. It was a miracle that Sam and Tucker had not woken anything. They must not have seen the stuffed elf heads or simply decided not to comment.

Harry had a feeling that Sam was like Hermione and would join S.P.E.W. without a second thought. Hermione's nagging was bad enough, he didn't want to imagine what it would be like if there were two of her.

Once he had acquired a few dustpans, courtesy of Mrs. Weasley, he went back to the others and distributed them. He set about the arduous task of sweeping up the thick layer of dust with stubborn resolution. Everyone quickly followed his example in silence. The only sound was the sweeping brushes, a strange symphony that echoed around the room.

Harry shuddered. The sound made him feel as though the room was full of snakes, hissing and rustling, just waiting for the right moment to sink venomous fangs deep into their soft, unprotected flesh.

The strange dream Harry had suddenly came back to him. The noise made by these few dustpan brushes were nothing compared to the cacophony of hissing and spitting that had surrounded him in his dream. He forced himself to calm down and remember that not all snakes are bad. The Brazilian boa constrictor he had set free at the zoo four years ago had been very polite.

He pulled his focus back to cleaning, unaware of the electric green eyes that were watching him.

A while and one full dustbin later, the teens stood back to admire their work. The floor was now mercifully dust-free and the rug had been brutally beaten until it was clean enough to lay on.

"I reckon we should be rewarded for this," Ron stated, looking at the room with something akin to pride dancing behind his eyes.

Ginny snorted lightly. "Like what? A new Cleansweep?"

"Yeah, that would be good," Ron answered dreamily as his eyes glazed over.

"What's a Cleansweep?" asked Tucker. It was now his turn to be stared at incredulously by the four British teens, though unlike Ron he didn't blush.

"Don't worry about it Tuck," Phantom said with a yawn, falling backwards to land spread-eagled on one of the beds.

"Could you give us some privacy for a while? We've come from a different time zone and we're kinda tired," Sam said, using Phantom's yawn as an excuse to be left alone.

"Oh, of course, sorry! I forgot all about it. Do you want one of us to come and get you for dinner?" Hermione asked looking quite apologetic.

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks," Sam replied with a smile. She was trying not to let her impatience show on her face. The British teens piled out, leaving the room looking much emptier. As soon as they could no longer hear footsteps, Sam whirled upon the half-ghost hero. "Danny, are you okay?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said reassuringly. "I'm just not used to staying in ghost form for so long; it's a little draining." Another yawn broke free.

"You should probably change back now, while you can, and then go ghost again before we go down to eat. You'd save a bit of energy that way," said Tucker. He sat down on one of the other beds and jumped up and down a bit, testing to check how soft it was and how much it creaked. The bed gave a few muffled protests but Tucker stopped, satisfied.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan," Danny said. Without moving a muscle Danny let go of his ghost half, the two rings sweeping the length of his body. The raven-haired teen took a deep breath, sighed, and closed his eyes, drifting off into sleep straight away.

Sam and Tucker glanced at each other, unsure of what to do.

* * *

Harry, Hermione and the Weasley children had met up in Ron and Harry's room to discuss the strangers. Fred and George were eager to pull a prank on them to see how they handled it. The twins were hoping that Phantom would retaliate so that they could get the measure of his skills and methods. The others were more interested in discussing whether or not the strangers would agree to spy on the Order for them.

"We can't just stroll up to them and ask," Hermione said. "They've only been here a few hours and none of them seem to have any idea of what's going on. If we ask them to spy on the people that are supposed to be protecting them, what will they think?"

"So you're saying that we should wait until they trust us enough?" Harry asked, frowning slightly. At Hermione's nod his frown deepened. "But what if they don't trust us enough before we leave for Hogwarts?"

"We'll just have to earn their trust before then," Hermione said with a determined expression.

Time slipped by as they continued to talk. None of them took any notice of the black, empty picture frame hanging on the wall.

* * *

When the time for dinner rolled around, Sirius wandered upstairs to the room his godson was staying in, not surprised to find everyone else in there, and told them dinner was ready and to let the new guests know. He went back to the kitchen after they acknowledged the message.

On their way, the group of four (Fred and George had apparated) stopped at the door to the newly occupied room. Hermione was at the front so she knocked, softly at first. When no one answered she knocked harder.

Tucker had begun to doze off not long ago but Sam was wide awake. She heard the second round of knocking and felt a flash of panic. What if they opened the door?

"Hello? Sorry for disturbing you, but dinner's ready," said Hermione, her voice, already low because they were on the stairs, sounded quite muffled through the door.

"Hang on," Sam called out quickly. "We'll be out in a minute."

Tucker snuffled a bit and shifted, his eyes opening. "What's going on? Is the food ready?" he asked hopefully.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Yes, Tucker, it's ready. We have to wake Da-Phantom," she said, hastily correcting herself and hoping that the others hadn't heard her through the door. She could've smacked herself in the head for that. As Tucker pushed himself up off the bed, Sam walked over to her other best friend and gently shook his shoulder.

The half-ghost teen was loathe to rouse from his slumber; he would have happily slept for hours. Still, he knew he had to get up and go downstairs, even if it was just for show. They weren't expecting him to eat anything and he certainly wasn't going to give himself away by taking a bite of whatever was on the table, even if it smelled absolutely mouth-watering. He hoped his stomach wouldn't rumble. How would he explain that?

Now that he thought about it, he wasn't even sure his stomach _could_ rumble when he was in ghost mode. If his energy levels were low as a ghost, he always became tired. Never hungry, he recalled, just tired.

The four teens on the other side of the door were all trying hard to hear anything. All they could hear, however, were muffled voices and the odd groan from disused bedsprings. Hermione hadn't moved from her spot right in front of the door, though she had been unable to glean anything more than the rest. They were so intent on staring at the unyielding wooden door that none of them noticed the flash of light that appeared through the cracks at the top and bottom of the doorframe.

A few more seconds passed before the door opened to reveal Sam. The British teens hastily moved aside and lead the way down the stairs as Tucker and Phantom followed their friend. They settled themselves in whatever chair took their fancy - the three protectors of Amity Park next to each other on one side and the magical teens directly opposite - once they reached the kitchen table, and a sense of awkwardness fell over the room.

Harry, Hermione and the Weasley children were used to dining with Nearly Headless Nick, so having a ghost at the table was nothing new. They had also dined with foreigners in the Great Hall at Hogwarts during the Triwizard Tournament, so Sam and Tucker didn't really bother them. The three Americans acted as close as the Gryffindor Trio and had a secretive air about them, making Harry a little wary. With Voldemort back, strangers with secrets could be very dangerous.

Phantom's thoughts were running on eerily similar lines. He had no idea what to expect from these people nor what they expected of him. He knew they were trying not to stare, but he kept catching a curious glance here and there out of the corner of his eye.

The smell of cooking food was thick in the air and Phantom tried very hard to keep a look of hunger off his face. As he was in ghost form he didn't really feel any pangs of hunger, but he _knew_ he was hungry. He must have failed as he caught Molly's eye and her look of sadness and pity. The half-ghost smiled at her in what he hoped was a reassuring manner.

"Is there anything I can get you, dear?" Molly asked, hoping there was something she could do for the poor boy.

"It's a shame you ghosts can't eat, Mum's a really good cook," Ron said without thinking.

Hermione, taking a leaf out of Sam's book, elbowed Ron in the ribs. "Honestly Ron, you're the most insensitive person I've ever met!"

"Ronald! That was very rude. Apologise to Phantom this instant!" Molly scolded, her eyes flashing.

Ron's ears turned red and he looked down at his lap, unable to face Phantom. "Sorry, didn't mean to offend you or anything," he mumbled.

"It's okay," replied Phantom. "I wouldn't mind trying some of your cooking if I can," he went on, turning his attention back to Ron's mother.

"Can you eat like that?" asked Remus as he walked into the room.

Phantom fidgeted a bit uncomfortably as everyone's eyes focused on him. "I don't know. It can't hurt to try though, right?" he said optimistically. It wasn't really a lie. He'd never sat down to a meal in ghost mode before. If he could eat, would he feel full when he turned back?

Molly smiled warmly at him and gave him a plate as well. The meal was a simple affair; a couple of sausages, eggs and a piece of buttered toast. Sam declined the sausages, opting for more toast. Phantom murmured his thanks, waited for everyone else to start eating, and eyed his plate critically. He picked up the piece of toast and took a bite before setting it back down – his ghostly aura would swiftly leech all the warmth out of the bread if he held onto it.

Sam surreptitiously glanced at him and saw him smile. He looked at her and winked, digging in with a will. Feeling drained of ghostly energy, and the subsequent map he had just taken, had left him with quite an appetite. Tucker evidently felt the same as he devoured his sausages.

Ron was right – his mother _was_ a good cook. Phantom caught the others sneaking peeks at him again from time to time and he tried to ignore them as best he could. Sometimes he would catch them in the act and they would quickly transfer their gaze to their plates. Hermione had the grace to blush and offer him an apologetic smile when he caught her. When he met Mrs. Weasley's gaze however, he smiled and gave a tiny nod, and she beamed in return.

The silence stretched on as everyone seemed content not to break it.

'_Well, so much for not giving myself away by eating…'_ Phantom thought wryly as he stared at his empty plate. _'At least this way we don't have to sneak around or make up any excuses to get extra food for me.'_

When everyone was finished, which didn't take long, Mrs. Weasley collected up the plates and playfully shooed Phantom and Sam away when they offered to help clean up.

"I'm so tired," Tucker said, letting loose a huge yawn.

"Yeah, me too," Phantom agreed.

Sam rolled her eyes but had to bite back her own yawn. She saw her best friends give her a knowing look and rolled her eyes again. "Yeah, yeah," she muttered.

After everyone had bidden each other goodnight, the three Americans went back to their room, got changed - the boys let Sam have the room to herself for that – and sank gratefully onto their beds and burrowed under the covers. Danny released his ghost form, grateful for the extra warmth his human half provided. It didn't take long for sleep to set in.

* * *

Danny groaned as he felt someone shake his shoulder. He pulled the covers higher over his head in an effort to dissuade whoever it was. Danny thought he had succeeded as the hand, which probably belonged to Jazz, pulled away. The next moment someone blew straight in his ear. His eyes flew open and he was fully prepared to give Jazz a piece of his mind when he spotted Sam and realised he wasn't home.

"Wakey, wakey!" she chanted, an evil on her face.

"Ugh… What time is it?" he asked, peering around for a clock.

Sam shrugged. "A bit past ten. They let us sleep in 'cause we're still adjusting to their time."

Danny saw a lump snoring away in Tucker's bed. "Why didn't you wake Tuck up?" he asked, throwing back the bed covers and stretching with his arms above his head. He gave a satisfied sigh as something popped.

"Don't think I didn't try. I figured a bit of ice down his back would do the trick," she said cheerfully, a dangerous glint in her eye as her evil smirk widened.

Danny matched her evil smirk and went ghost. Reaching for the cold core within himself, he closed his hands and created several little cubes of ice. He walked over to Tucker's bed, making sure Tucker was facing away from him, and turned his hands, along with the ice cubes, intangible. He slipped them through the sheets and dropped the cubes.

The ice regained its tangibility the moment it left Danny's gloved hands.

Tucker yelped loudly and scrambled out of bed. He frantically ran both hands up and down his back to find the cause and dispel the chill. After several seconds he stopped, hearing muffled laughter behind him. It didn't take Tucker long to put two and two together.

"Ha-ha, real funny guys," he said sarcastically as he turned to face them.

"Nice dance move," Danny said casually, trying and failing to wipe the grin off his face.

A knock sounded on the door, startling all three, and Mrs. Weasley's voice came softly through the door. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine!" Phantom called out.

"Says you," Tucker muttered darkly, shooting the half-ghost and goth a glare. He moved to his bag, which was mostly still packed, and grabbed his clothes, throwing them behind him onto the bed. He whipped around suddenly and brandished something at Phantom.

It was a Fenton Lipstick.

With a playful smirk Tucker fired a tiny blast over his friend's white hair. The half-ghost gave a look of mock horror and phased through the door, accidentally going straight through Mrs. Weasley, who had yet to move from the door.

She blinked, her mouth formed into a little 'o' of surprise. It was cold, yes, but not as bad as the frigid, ice-water feeling of the Hogwarts' ghosts. It was more like having a glass of water that had been sitting in the fridge for hours poured over you.

"Oh, uh, sorry," Phantom mumbled. He was floating a few inches off the floor and rubbed the back of his neck with one hand in embarrassment.

Mrs. Weasley mentally shook herself. "It's not a problem, dear. I can make you and your friends a late breakfast if you want, or an early lunch," she said with a smile.

"Breakfast sounds great!" Tucker said as he opened the door a crack and stuck his head out into the hallway.

"I'll go and get started," she said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Oh, before I forget, please keep the noise down on the stairs and in the hallways. It's an old house you see, and it's easy to disturb…others."

Phantom nodded, wondering about the slight hesitation. Sam pushed past Tucker to join Phantom in the hall.

"Don't start without me," Tucker said quickly before he shut the door and rushed to get dressed. Phantom was still technically in his pyjamas, though his ghostly outfit remained the same, so he decided to eat first and get dressed later.

* * *

The Gryffindor trio, Ginny and the twins were at the kitchen table. They hadn't been sent off to clean anything yet and had lingered at the table for lack of anything better to do. They had actually been waiting for the Americans to show up, particularly after hearing the ruckus. It was a miracle Mrs. Black hadn't started screaming.

Mrs. Weasley entered first and immediately began bustling about making toast. Sam and Phantom were not far behind her and both looked smug about something. They were just about to sit down when Tucker almost skid through the doorway. Greetings were exchanged and then conversation was momentarily halted as the toast was served.

"I hope you don't mind me asking," Hermione said as they were halfway through their first slice, "but what was that noise from earlier?"

None of the British teens missed the indignant glare that Tucker aimed at his two friends.

"Just _some people_ acting like five-year-olds," Tucker answered.

"Just saving the world from noise pollution," Phantom quickly retorted.

Tucker looked scandalized. "Noise? What noise?"

"You came up with that iPod full of strange noises to use as excuses – which was really handy by the way, thanks! – and you ask 'what noise'?" Phantom said incredulously.

"You didn't have to put ice down my back!" Tucker whined, partway through his second slice.

The witches and wizards looked at Phantom in surprise. Sam gave an unladylike snort of laughter that she tried to muffle behind her hand. Fred and George were grinning at the half-ghost, something that looked suspiciously like pride and a challenge shining in their eyes.

"Perhaps we should try something of the sort ourselves one of these days," said Fred.

"Perhaps we should," George airily agreed. "Not with ice though."

"No, not with ice. I'm sure we'll think of a wonderful alternative."

"Oh yes, definitely."

"No you won't," Mrs. Weasley interrupted while collecting Sam's plate. She stood there, plate in one hand with the other on her hip, and peered at the twins sternly. She was the epitome of motherly authority, though the twins simply nodded in a way that told Molly someone was going to get a rude awakening tomorrow morning.

Tucker grabbed a third slice of toast. "Don't you dare pull anything on me, I've already been a victim."

Both twins leaned back casually in their chairs. They adopted a nonchalant air and looked down their noses at the beret-wearing boy.

"Pull something on you? I think not," George said in a snobbish tone.

"You're too easy as a target," said Fred, matching his brother's tone perfectly.

Tucker felt both relieved and offended by this and wasn't sure which of the two to express. He settled for something in the middle and the result looked as if something vaguely rotten smelling had been shoved under his nose. Sam fought down another snort of laughter.

"So…are we supposed to do something today or what?" Phantom asked the room in general.

Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat and placed Sam's plate in the sink with a small clatter. "Well, there's going to be a meeting tonight and Dumbledore requested that you be present, Phantom. You three can relax today," she said with a small nod to the Americans.

"Does that mean we get the day off too?" Ron asked hopefully.

"No it doesn't," Mrs. Weasley instantly replied. "I've let you lounge around long enough. You lot need to finish clearing out the front room. Go on, shoo!" she said, waving them out of the kitchen.

What the ghost hunting trio saw that the Hogwarts students didn't, was the amused expression that replaced the stern one on Molly's face as they disappeared to do her bidding.

A few minutes after both boys finished their breakfast the three sidled away, only to end up following Ron's complaining voice and the twins' loud, playful banter. They found the Weasleys, along with Harry and Hermione, in front of a large black cupboard that took up half of one wall. The cupboard doors were made of glass, somewhat misted with age; the contents further obscured by a layer of dust that coated the whole cupboard.

The British teens had one of the cupboard doors open and seemed to be slowly and carefully removing items one by one. A large white, mostly empty sack was laying on the ground near their feet. They turned around at the sound of footsteps but went back to work when they saw who it was.

"Want a hand?" Sam asked as she stepped forward.

"Anything to get this done faster," Ron snorted before anyone else could reply.

Hermione glared at him. "How many times do I have to tell you that we can't rush?" she said in a bossy tone. "I keep telling you that we don't know what half of this stuff is and if any of it is _dangerous_," she continued, placing extra emphasis on the last word.

"Ow!" Harry suddenly yelped, dropping a tiny carved box on the floor. He stared at his hand for a moment before curling his fingers over and straightening them again, apparently satisfied.

"See? Just like that!" Hermione exclaimed at the same time that Phantom said, "Dude, are you okay?"

Harry shook his hand slightly as he frowned at the box. "Yeah, I'm fine. It just got really hot after a second." He swiftly wrapped his cleaning cloth around his hand and gingerly picked up the box. After a couple of seconds he hastily put it back down, partially dropping it again. "That thing burns! How are we supposed to hold it long enough to toss it away?"

"Give me your cloth," Phantom said while stepping up to Harry and holding out his hand. Harry handed it over wordlessly, though his emerald eyes burned with curiosity. Phantom's electric green eyes gave nothing away as he took the cloth, bundled it in his gloved hands, and concentrated for several seconds before giving it back.

As Harry touched the cloth he smiled in surprise. The small ice cubes Phantom had wrapped up felt absolutely wonderful against his stinging palm and fingers. "Wow, thanks," he said gratefully.

Phantom returned the smile. "How about I give it a go?"

"But Dan…gerous…" Tucker said slowly with a slightly panicked expression. "It's dangerous, remember?" He let out the breath he'd been holding when Sam whispered, "Nice save," just loud enough for him to hear.

"Relax, Tuck," Phantom said with an easy grin, "I got this one totally covered."

Having said that, Phantom held an icy aura around his right hand, dropping the room temperature a small notch. The easy grin faded as he quickly grabbed the tiny box, sparing no time to gawk at its intricate carvings, and all but threw it into the bag now held open by Hermione. The witch let the bag fall, but the _fwump_ it made as it hit the floor didn't disguise the pained gasp that escaped Phantom's lips.

"Phantom!" Sam and Tucker both cried out while rushing toward their friend.

Sam's hand shot out and snagged Phantom's right wrist faster than even his ghost-honed reflexes could dodge. Phantom was impressed despite himself. The goth girl gently twisted his wrist so that his palm faced up. Most of the teens gasped, though Phantom only winced.

It looked like someone had poured acid over his hand. His white glove was partly eaten away and the skin beneath was raw, blistered and covered in droplets of bright green ectoplasm like he had been repeatedly poked by a needle. It looked just like a second-degree burn if you ignored the fact that the blood was green.

Still, blood was blood, and the three Americans knew the injury was just as bad as if he had been Fenton, ghostly healing aside.

"I'll get the First-Aid kit," Tucker volunteered, making for the door. They had brought their own kit with them that contained a few extras not found in any other: Fenton Ecto-Disinfectant Spray, Fenton Ghost Thermometer and Fenton Ghost Pathogen Detector.

These particular inventions had come about when Jack and Maddie had captured a sick ghost. The ghost, who had displayed symptoms similar to a mild flu, had prompted them to start researching ghost viruses. They had invented several ways to fight ghostly infection before trying to find a way to use a ghostly virus as a weapon, though they had been experiencing limited success with the weapon part.

The spray worked like normal disinfectant alcohol, but also killed any ecto-bacteria. The thermometer could be set to work for a human or a ghost or, indeed, something in-between, as the Fentons had discovered the normal temperature range of an average ghost. They had created it in case anything like the outbreak of those mosquitoes that had given children ghost powers ever happened again. The pathogen detector, when pointed at a ghost, would scan it for ecto-bacteria that indicated sickness.

Though the elder Fentons didn't know it, these inventions had greatly helped their youngest child. Sam, Tucker, Jazz and Danny had discovered that they were perfect to use on a halfa, which was why Tucker was heading to get the kit.

Ginny suddenly strode past and stopped in the doorway just long enough to say, "Wait here, I'll go get Mum." Her fiery red hair, streaming like a banner behind her, whipped around the doorframe and out of sight.

Sam, Tucker and Phantom glanced uneasily at each other.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, there you have it. No ghost-fighting action, but that's not all there is to DP. Besides, how would any of Amity's ghosts have tracked Danny to England and gotten there so fast? Grimmauld Place IS Unplottable and I haven't seen any ghost beside Danny/Dan with a Ghost Sense.

Still, I hope it was an interesting read. I've probably disappointed many of you with the contents after such a long wait and for that I apologise.

I sincerely hope that you don't hate me enough not to leave feedback. I'm sure my writing has improved from one year ago, though it's hard for me to tell. Could you please tell me if I'm improving or if my writing quality has fallen? What you did and didn't like about this chapter?

A huge thank you to all of my reviewers – the ones I could reply to and the anonymous ones I couldn't! It means more to me than you know to hear from you.

Would you believe this story has **312** reviews, **42,760** hits (O_o), **14** C2s, **259** favs and **399** alerts? Never in my wildest imagination did I _ever_ dream that I could write anything that ever gained this much attention! Again, a HUGE _THANK YOU!_ to you all!

**Remember!** - I always keep my profile page up-to-date. I have a section there where I post what chapter of which story I'm up to and how much of that chapter I've completed. If you wanna know how close I am to finishing the next chapter of ANY of my stories, head there and scroll down a short way. They're under the heading '**Story Updates**'.

~Fantomo


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